
Class TX)4. f 
Book JB & - 

CORfRIGHT D&POSm 



The Hope Chest 



For the Bride — God Bless 
Her — Hardiest and Most 
Graceful of Our Perennials! 



THE HOPE CHEST 

oA Book for the Bride 

AND FOR THE WIFE WHO WOULD 
RETAIN THE JOY OF BRIDAL DAYS 



By 

LORENE BOWMAN 

and 

JANE LESLIE KIFT 



Decorations by 

JOSEPHINE WEAGE 



CHICAGO 
THE REILLY & LEE COMPANY 



Printed in the United States of America 






Copyright, 1922 

by 

The Reilly & Lee Co. 



All Rights Reserved 



The Hope Chest 



MAY i 5 1922 
0)C!.A674092 



%vO 



I 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Over the Garden Gate 9 

II. Your Porch 25 

III. Your Living Room 37 

IV. Your Dining Room 57 

V. Polly, Put the Kettle On 67 

VI. The Art of Marketing 75 

VII. Your Bedroom 85 

VIII. Make Your Home Shine 93 

IX. All Through the Year 107 

X. Shopping for the House 127 

XL When Emergency Comes 135 

XII. The Household Budget 145 

XIII. Keep Pace with Your Husband . . .153 



"God Almighty first planted a garden 




1' 





CHAPTER I 

Ot;^r the Garden Gate 

GARDEN is a lovesome thing." Assuredly, you want 
i^i a garden. A home without a garden begins with 

a handicap. We need the company of friendly 
trees and embracing vines to coax our home into the open 
and make it a part of the big outdoors. And surely we 
need the cheeriness of flowers. How we should miss the 
gay good morning of the daily rose that has clambered up 
the trellis to peep in at the window, or the more distant 
greeting of the hollyhocks as they peer through the lattice 
windows of the dining-room. 

And then the joy each morning of going down a prim- 
rose path with the only man in the world, and bidding him 
good-bye for the day beneath the sheltering arms of a 
swaying elm. Oh, yes indeed, every bride must have her 



The Hope Chest 

garden. It may be large or small. It matters not. It can 
surround a low, rambling dream-house, or it can be within 
the confines of a box fastened to some window ledge, far 
above the roar of the city streets. 

Care Makes a Real Garden 
If it be green and preaches the gospel of color and 
sings its psalm of gladness, and has been coaxed into exist- 
ence by the loving care of its owner, then it will be a real 
garden, with its high lights and shadows, even if it be 
within the confines of four wooden sides; and it will ever 
exhale an atmosphere of contentment that is sweet and 
satisfying. 

Garden togs are fascinating, becoming, and easily 
fashioned of almost any stout material. Gray, green or 
brown denim or khaki make the most durable smocks, and 
it's smocks you want, for they are sufficiently loose to per- 
mit you to work unhampered. 

Use a pattern with a large armhole in preference to 
one with a kimono sleeve. Such sleeves admit of free arm 
motion. Make the skirt quite short, so that when you bend 
over or dig the hem will not touch the soil. Perhaps you 
will prefer knickerbockers, for they are more practical. 

The Smock of Service 
In a loose smock and a big garden hat you will become 
quite an important feature of the landscape. Let us sug- 
gest a smock of gray denim, a broad-brimmed hat of green 
and yellow, and an orange tie. In the front of the skirt 
have two large pockets. Wear loose, cotton gloves — easily 
washed — and low-heeled shoes of brown. 

lO 



Over the Garden Gate 



This will be your first very own garden, so let it be 
unpretentious. Plant not one single rose more than you 
have time to care for. Gardeners are hard to find and 
unless your Prince Charming has a bottomless purse you 
cannot afford one. Make yours the gayest, sweetest and 
most joyous garden in the world. Plant only blossoms of 
which you are fond. 

Plant a Friendly Garden 

Flowers, like people, are responsive and will unfurl 
their most wonderful tints and tones for those who love 
them. 

You may be a bride who will know for the first time 
the real joy of following the trail of the hoe, so let us tell 
you not only how to care for but how to start such a gar- 
den. The first step of a garden operation is the preparation 
of the soil. The second step is sowing the seeds or setting 
out young plants that are past the seedling state and are 
well established. 

You Must Study Your Soil 
The preparation of the soil depends on your ground. 
Different soils require different treatment. A sandy, loamy 
soil gives the best results, when enriched with well-rotted 
manure. Heavy soils pack down hard during the spring 
and fall rains and make it difficult for tender shoots to 
push through the surface. You can overcome this condi- 
tion by adding a liberal amount of finely sifted sand and 
leaf mold, in addition to a heavy application of well- 
rotted manure. This will make the soil more porous and 
better adapted to plant growth. Should you find it im- 

II 



The Hope Chest 



possible to secure sand, finely sifted coal ashes, mixed 
with the upper four inches of the soil, will help to make 
it porous. 

Sandy soils are well suited for starting seeds, but later, 
when the heat of the summer comes, will dry out too 
quickly. To overcome this it is wise to incorporate a gen- 
erous supply of manure with the soil before you commence 
to prepare the beds. Most amateurs are so anxious to sow 
seeds that they fail to properly prepare the soil, and later 
wonder why the seeds do not germinate as they should. 

Hints on Preparation 

Just before sowing, rake the ground over and see that 
the soil is free from stones, and what is even more im- 
portant, see that it is finely pulverized. A forward-and- 
back stroke with the rake will soon crumple the soil into 
a fine mass which you can easily level with the back of the 
rake. 

Sow your seeds in furrows. Small seeds require to be 
planted to the depth of a quarter inch ; large seeds one-half 
inch, and very small seeds, such as daisy seed, should be 
covered with only sufficient soil to keep them from being 
blown away. Later you will have to thin your seed beds. 
The less crowded they are the more vigorous will be their 
development. Label each row. This will later enable you 
to know just what you have. 

Sowing the Annuals 
Sow the seeds of annuals either in late fall or early 
spring. The following varieties do well when sown in the 
fall: Larkspur (Delphinium Ajacis), Chinese and Jap- 

12 



Over the Garden Gate 



anese Pinks (Dianthus Chinensis), Candytuft (Iberis), 
Poppies (Papaver), Oxalis, Nasturtium, Calendula, Cal- 
liopsis, Centaurea (Bachelor's Button), Lupinus and 
Virginia Stocks. 

Pansies and forget-me-nots, while biennials, are well 
adapted to fall planting. These same varieties can always 
be sown in early spring, so you can start gardening either 
in the spring or fall. 

Start Cultivating Early 

Start cultivating your soil as early as possible in the 
spring. The first pair of leaves to push up through the 
soil are called seed leaves, or cotyledons, and their size, 
shape and color differ from the true leaves. After the 
true leaves appear is the time to look for weeds. 

Weeds, being rampant growers, require a great deal 
of nourishment and therefore take a large portion of the 
nutritive qualities from the soil. As a result, the seedlings 
being less vigorous soon die from want of nourishment. 
Pulling weeds is necessary though tiresome work, but 
cheer up, it is healthful. When we pull weeds we exercise 
muscles that need it. 

Thin Out Seedlings 
When the seedlings have attained a height of three 
inches you must begin thinning. This means pulling up 
every other plant. You may have to repeat this process 
three times. Never be guilty of throwing away the plants 
you lift. Give them to someone whose garden is pitifully 
empty. You will thus be doing something to make the 
"City Beautiful Movement" a reality. 

13 



The Hope Chest 



Water your seed beds daily, preferably after sundown, 
if the weather be unusually warm. Protect your beds from 
the burning rays of the sun while the seeds are germinat- 
ing. Cheesecloth tacked on light racks makes a substantial 
screen and one that will last for years. 

Keep Ahead of the Weeds 

Hoe between the rows of your garden once each week. 
This not only prevents the weeds from gaining headway 
but it separates the soil into fine pieces which cast shadows 
and thus protect the lower layers of soil from the strong 
rays of the sun. Much hoeing reduces evaporation of the 
moisture, which must be retained if we would have healthy 
plants. 

Young plants can be set out at any time. You will want 
some of these to give color to your garden while you are 
waiting for your seeds to develop. You must also plant 
some hardy, herbaceous stock the first season in order that 
your garden may have some permanency. Peonies and iris 
take the lead in this class. Roses you will also want, and 
if you have room plant a wistaria. It is beautiful when 
blossoming. 

Plants for the House 

Many failures in the culture of house plants can be 
attributed to the selection of plants that are entirely un- 
suited to the environment of the average hot-water or 
steam-heated dwelling. Such plants may do well in green- 
houses, because here temperature, light and moisture can 
be regulated, if necessary, from hour to hour, but in the 
living room, where the temperature drops at night and the 



Over the Garden Gate 



room is often not particularly sunny and the atmosphere is 
always dry, they soon cease to put forth new growth, lose 
their leaves and gradually die. 

The Reliable Primrose 

There are many plants equally beautiful, with more 
vigorous constitutions, that will grow and develop into per- 
fect specimens in the house. Among the flowering plants 
any of the varieties of primroses are reliable. These attrac- 
tive plants seem never to grow weary of unfolding their 
dainty little petals. They will do well in the same environ- 
ment as the common geranium, which, by the way, is far 
from common. The primrose thrives in a soil of good 
garden loam, sand and manure, equal parts. It must be 
watered every day. The best way is to set it in the laundry 
tub and sprinkle it over the top. This not only keeps the 
foliage clean but it prevents the advent of the red spider, 
which is at times an enemy of the primrose. Do not be 
content with wetting the foliage; be sure the water has 
penetrated the soil about the roots. Remove all the dead 
flowers. 

Secret of Shapely Plant 

The primrose enjoys a sunny window. Each day, when 
placing it in the window, turn the pot so that it receives 
the same amount of sun on every side. This treatment in 
time will produce a shapely plant. 

The geranium is an old friend, tried and true. It has 
no peer as a flowering house plant; foliage and flowers 
both are attractive. There are many excellent varieties of 

15 



The Hope Chest 



geraniums from which to choose, some single and some 
double, and their colors are legion. Water a geranium 
only every other day and do not keep it too warm — 60 
degrees suits it best. Do not over-pot it. If you do you will 
have few blossoms. Plant it in a soil composed of good 
garden loam and sand with only a trace of manure and 
it will be happy. 

The Best Foliage Plants 

Foliage plants are easily raised if kept in a warm, 
sunny and well-ventilated room. Their tops should be 
sprinkled daily. A plant with clean foliage is usually 
healthy. Among the best foliage plants are the Boston fern 
(Nephrolepis Bostoniensis), Plumed Scotch fern, Kentia 
palm, Ficus Elasticus (common rubber plants, which 
always do well but are not especially graceful) , Dracaenas, 
which thrive in any environment, and the Pandanus, which 
has its quota of admirers. 

Have an Herb Garden 

How often we are told of our grandmother's herb 
garden, and with what interest we read about those glo- 
rious attics where she dried her herbs, and how in the 
early fall she stewed and brewed those wonderful potions 
that in a large measure took the place of products of our 
laboratories of today. We are not going to recommend 
that you establish a laboratory in your little home for the 
medicine that will stop the first sneeze of winter, but we 
do want to suggest a few herbs and blossoms that will be 
useful in the dreary months, when the Scotch plaid days 

16 



Over the Garden Gate 



are over and the birds have winged their way to Southern 
climes. All we will mention will be reliable in every way. 
They will require no other care than planting and watering 
and will do well in any soil. 

Lavender — You will be glad after you have dried the blosscms to 
scatter them through your linen closets. 

Parsley — This is a hardy little plant with really wonderful leaves. 
It will lend zest to stews and soups, and garnish your cold meat dishes. 
It will stand quite a bit of cold fall weather. 

Sage — This little plant with its silvery leaf should be in every gar- 
den. Gather it in the fall and hang it to the rafters of your cellar to 
dry, protected by a paper bag from dust and dirt. You will be glad 
when you make the filling for a roast of poultry or meat. 

Mint — A plant of mint will supply all the necessary mint for sum- 
mer drinks and winter sauces. 

Siueet Marjoram — Will be ever useful in the kitchen. 

The Joy of Dahlias 

Let us urge you to number some dahlias among the 
members of your garden family. Flowering as they do in 
late summer, you will be sure to appreciate them, because 
your peonies and roses will be mostly over by the time they 
bloom. The dahlias have been propagated so successfully 
in recent years that they rival the chrysanthemums in 
beauty and grace. 

For the City Garden 

The success of dahlias depends entirely on the way the 
soil is prepared. Unlike most tubers, dahlias do not thrive 
in rich soil. This enables those of us with the ordinary clay 
soil that we are apt to find in city gardens to grow these 
desirable garden blossoms. 

17 



The Hope Chest 



If you want dahlias, plow or dig the ground early. Dig 
deep — the deeper the better. Do this just as early in the 
spring as the ground is workable. Then let it settle and 
turn it again just before setting out the tubers. If the soil 
is already fertile, use no manure or prepared fertilizer. 
If the ground is very poor, spread it with manure before 
digging. You do not require a great deal of manure. If 
manure is not obtainable, choose a fertilizer not too rich 
in ammonia or nitrogen. The largest and most successful 
growers in the world tell us the proper proportion is a half 
ton to the acre. For the average garden, where you have 
probably a dozen plants, a pound would be sufficient. 

Cut Off Some Stalks 

The middle of May seems to be the right time to plant 
dahlias in the middle states. Set your dahlias four to six 
inches deep — no deeper, and in order to leave room for 
future development, set them two to four feet apart. Allow 
but one stalk to develop from a root. Cut the others ofif. 
In the late fall, after the dahlias have flowered, and just 
before frost, lift the tubers, place them in a sunny corner 
of the porch until the soil about them is dry, then shake it 
off and place them in a warm, dark, dry place, such as the 
cellar or some closet shelf, until spring, when you can 
plant them again in their previous location in the garden. 

The Gardener's Hands 

If you wish to work in the garden at 9:30 A. M. and 
attend a luncheon the same day, run your hands across a 
cake of soap, thus filing the under surface of each nail 

t8 



Over the Garden Gate 



before beginning to dig. Later all that will be necessary 
will be to remove the soap with the aid of a nail brush 
and wash your hands in lukewarm water. By following 
this method you can instantly remove all traces of the 
garden from your hands. 



Take a foot rule to your florist and ask him to mark on 
it the different depths required to plant the many varieties 
of spring bulbs. He will cheerfully do this and such a rule 
will insure your bulbs being well planted. 



To rid your lawn of ants, pour scalding water over each 
hill, or you will find a teaspoonful of coal oil poured over 
each hill just as efficacious. 



Should Wandering Jew make its appearance on your 
premises, instantly dig it up, as it is the most pernicious of 
weeds. If permitted to remain it will ruin a lawn in six 
weeks. 



Do not attempt to remove plantains before August. 
Then the roots of this weed lie just below the surface of 
the soil and the slightest twist will uproot it. 



Mow a new lawn as soon as the blades of grass are long 
enough to reach between the knives of the mower. 



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The Hope Chest 



Garden Furniture 

If your garden be larger than the window or porch-box 
variety, let us urge you to beg, borrow or buy some garden 
furniture. Willow furniture is a wise choice. It has three 
good points: It is built on artistic lines and possesses a 
charm all its own. It is light and easily moved from a 
sunny to a shady location, and it is not injured by the 
elements which are ever present in the garden. 

One table for serving tea, and three chairs will be 
sufficient for a small garden. It is thrifty to buy the natural 
color willow and paint it yourself. Give it three coats, then 
it will withstand the summer showers. Make the cushions 
of plain crash, which does not show the dust. A small, 
happy little nosegay can easily be stenciled on each cushion. 
Have the cushion loose so that when the summer showers 
come you can readily lift them and run. 

Real Comfort in an Umbrella 

A garden umbrella — one of those huge varieties made 
of linen or striped awning material — will be a real comfort. 
It will not only protect your tea-table from the sun but it 
will lend a pleasing note of gaiety to your tea parties. Such 
an umbrella is easily adjusted. All that is necessary is to 
stick its long pointed handle into the soil. You can have it 
covered with the same material as your cushions and even 
stencil a wee nosegay on each section. 

Garden Tools 

Please do not try, like a friend of the writer's, to garden 
with a tin coal shovel and a butcher knife. This is not prac- 

20 



Over the Garden Gate 



tical. The following list, while small, is practical and 
necessary. Please mentally underscore the last word, 

A ball of twine, not large nor fine, 

Two stakes to hold it taut ; 

A shovel and spade of stout stuff made, 

And a rake with coarse teeth wrought ; 

A watering can of painted tan. 

With a bright nosegay of blue ; 

A garden hose to water the rows 

Of daisies of golden hue ; 

A trowel for digging, 

When sprouts you're bidding 

Come forth from the earth to grow ; 

Shears and a knife for the little wife, 

Whose posies she plants in a row ; 

A basket to gather the posies she'd rather 

Carry into her home, 

Where vases she'll fill 

With a right good will. 

How from this home could a husband roam? 

Welcome the Birds 

Of course you want the birds, so bid them welcome. 
Place low bird baths about your garden. Lovely terra 
cotta ones can be purchased at small cost, and they are both 
durable and artistic. Place at least two bird boxes some- 
where away from the haunts of .cats and dogs. If your Best 
and Dearest is dextrous you will have fun making them 
together in the spring. 

Of course, if you can aflford it, the bird houses you can 
buy from the bird house men probably will be more satis- 
factory than any home-made ones. A blue bird house, on 
a sixteen-foot pole in your garden, will attract the loveliest 

21 



The Hope Chest 



of tenants, year by year. The pole should be hinged near 
the base, so that the house may be swung down and cleaned 
out each spring. 

Think of opening your eyes each morning to the 
accompaniment of a feathered orchestra and of sitting in 
the garden in the twilight with that very best man listening 
to their good-night chorus! 



22 



"You cannot shut the windows of the sky, 
Through which Aurora shows her brightening face* 




^f^HlNK OF the porch in your new home as your 
l^^p summer and sunlight room. There is enough of 
^ mr\ indoors and enough of out-of-doors about it to 
make it half room and half lawn. Most of the days you 
can count on a flood of sunshine here — for most days are 
sunny days — and altogether you and your friends will vote 
your sun parlor your most popular room. 

The floor and walls should be of neutral tints, forming 
but the background for the colorful loveliness to be sup- 
plied by the furnishings. If the builder has kindly made 
the floor of brick or tile and given you walls of gray stone 
or painted siding, bestow an extra thought of gratitude to 
him; then fit your furnishings into the plan. If he has not 



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The Hope Chest 



treated you so kindly, before deciding on a floor covering, 
look at the inlaid linoleums that are fashioned after the 
Dutch interiors. Among these will be found some of the 
wonderful tile efifects that Van der Meer puts into his 
paintings. If you can afford rugs, those woven of linen or 
flax will be fitting. Possibly the finest porch rugs are the 
Japanese rush rugs. They come in different colorings and 
are woven in small blocks. By using different multiples of 
these blocks they are easily adjustable to any space. 

A Question of Colors 

Consider your light effects. If your porch is shaded 
by trees, softening the glare of the sunlight and yet giving 
you an unobstructed view of green sward, you will want 
some glowing coloring, supplied by gay cretonne or chintz. 
If your trees are yet in their infancy, and your porch during 
the sunshine hours is one blaze of glory, you will want less 
radiant coloring. If you do not want your roses to fade, 
you must buy only the best material. Hangings in plain 
linen color or grayish green are quietly beautiful, and 
charming curtains may be made from the unbleached 
muslin. 

Furnishing the Porch 

The furniture problem is the one that will perplex. 
The variety of attractive chairs and settles and tables is 
so endless that the character of the porch and size of your 
purse will have to come to your rescue and help you to 
decide. The woven wicker, calling for alluring cushions 
of gay cretonne, and painted furniture, with its pastel tones 

26 



Your Porch 

adorned with giddy flowers, make equal bids for favor, 
and promise equal wear and beauty in return. Possibly 
one of the fascinations of the bridal home is that it so 
fully expresses you, so here is a good place to have this 
joy of choice. 

Let your porch suggest your intelligence of home- 
building, so that the entrance to your home will stand apart 
in the memory of those who come to your door. Such a 
porch, even if one gets no further into your domain, will 
impart a "come again" feeling to your guests, and help to 
make the reputation for sincere hospitality that you want 
your home to have. 

Awnings Add Beauty 

We might almost call the sun and wind, that are so 
much with us on the porch, friendly foes. We would not 
do without them and yet we need some protection from 
them. 

The conventional awning, plain or with strips of bril- 
liant red or green, really adds to the beauty of the house 
and is thoroughly satisfactory to shield from wind and sun. 

Sun fast Materials 

The porch enclosed with casement windows is more 
perfectly protected from rain than any other kind and 
will admit of more elaborate furnishing. Be sure to have 
the casement curtains of sunfast materials. Curtains of 
yellow or rose, when seen through sifted sunlight, glow 
with jewel-like beauty. 

There is another awning, not made by human hands, 

27 



The Hope Chest 



that is always the most attractive. The climbing rose with 
pinky, fragrant blossoms, the woodbine or clematis with 
their lacy foliage, the sweet-smelling honeysuckle, old but 
ever lovely — any of these will make the most beautiful 
awning for a home in the country. You will need some 
yards of wire netting up the pillars and around the edge 
of the porch roof, and added to this a bit of love and care, 
and you will have an awning designed and grown by the 
Great Artist. 

Camouflaging the Furniture 

"Cool and clean" are the words to keep in mind, in 
planning covers for your porch furniture. In such a rosy 
place as a bridal home, one naturally feels that the pretty 
chintzes and cretonnes, jolly with flowers, are the most 
suitable for slip covers and draperies for doors and win- 
dows. However, if you are demurely minded you will find 
plain covers made of Quaker gray rep, bound with bril- 
liant red, or blue bound with orange, or a deep tone of 
ivory bound with black, equally effective and more durable 
than chintz or cretonne. But fresh and clean they must be, 
whatever the kind or color. 

Some Economy Ideas 

There is no place in your home where you can put your 
best foot front so inexpensively as in just these slip covers 
and draperies. Even checked gingham is not to be despised 
and unbleached muslin can be coaxed into any color by 
proper dyestuff. 

For the tops of tables and flower-stands nothing is pret- 

28 



Your Porch 

tier than painted oilcloth. It is durable, it is inexpensive, 
it can be bought in almost any color, it can be cut into any 
size, and most important of all, it is easily cleaned. Should 
you choose a chintz or cretonne for covers and hang- 
ings, the same conventional pattern or flowers can be 
easily painted on the oilcloth. Even the covers for the 
flowerpots can be cut from the oilcloth and decorated 
harmoniously. 

Take time to "think through" your porch furnishing, 
where every available ray of sunshine pours all day, and 
you will not be harassed by faded ugliness. 

The Porch Fireplace 

A persuasive representative of comfort on a well- 
planned, built-in porch is the fireplace. If you have to 
resign yourself to economy, sacrifice something else, but 
cling to the fireplace. I do not mean that unforgivable 
sham where everything about a fireplace is present but the 
fire. Let us at least be honest. The real fireplace, with the 
glowing fire burning within when it is cold without, will 
radiate hospitality and good cheer, and help make happy 
you and all who enter your home. 

Use Brick or Stone 

Have the kind of a fireplace that will be friendly to 
the rest of the furnishings of your porch. Marbles may be 
in place in palaces, but right here on your porch you will 
want a fireplace of stone or brick. 

As for the andirons, I don't see how it is possible to 

29 



The Hope Chest 



economize, for they must be of brass or wrought iron, and 
they must be big enough to hold logs on a winter's night, 
so that your porch will be inviting to the boys with their 
tales of sports, and to the girls with their secrets. And you 
know your husband will want to bring in his friends right 
here to discuss questions of the day and swap stories. See 
how your fireplace does more than make your porch 
warm? It helps to make your home. 

Porch Plants 

No matter where your porch may be — whether a 
narrow strip above the pavement of a dusty city, or a 
spacious expanse reaching out into a velvety lawn, you will 
want plants on it. Don't is a very distracting word, never- 
theless "don't" have more plants than you can care for. 
If you have one of the little porches, you may find that 
even one plant placed in a jar of Delia Robbia ware — that 
smart new pottery that will impart an importance to even 
an ordinary plant — may be sufficient. 

Daily Bath Necessary 

If your porch is shaded use foliage plants. Wicker 
baskets, which can be hung up and thus are out of the way, 
are attractive. If you use them be sure to water them daily, 
as they dry out quickly and hence require an extra amount 
of water. 

Every emergency seems to be taken care of for us by the 
manufacturers, for you can now purchase plant stands that 
supply water to the plants by sponges which will hold 

30 



Your Porch 

enough for ten days. With these you can be at ease while 
away on a short trip. 

A Welcoming Tea-Table 

Somewhere on your porch, if it be enclosed, you will 
want a tea-table with its welcoming presence. You may 
count yourself lucky that rare old Ben Jonson cannot visit 
you to request his sixteen cups of tea, but there are all the 
tea drinking folks of your own family and the new family 
added to your life, besides your cherished friends who will 
willingly decide that you are prepared for any culinary 
task, provided you can and do serve a delectable cup 
of tea. 

Trays and Teacups 

The basic requirement for setting this satisfying feast 
is a light tea-table or tea-wagon. It is restful just to sit 
quietly in your chair and have this cup of cheer come to 
you. One of the little drop-leaf tables will not take up 
much room when you are not using it and will do nicely 
for serving. If your table should have drawers you will 
find these convenient to tuck away napkins and serving 
cloths. The tray you use may be such as suits your purse. 
We hope you have one of gorgeous Sheffield, but why be 
discouraged if you have not? A tray of painted tin, with 
its border painted to harmonize with your teacups, is 
always good taste. As to china, maybe you have some tea- 
cups among your wedding gifts that will give you the right 
service or, better still, you may have inherited some pedi- 
greed china. If you are going out to buy, look at the pink 

31 



The Hope Chest 

lustre or the lovely Sedji green that comes to us from 
Japan, before you decide on any other. Frankly though, 
for general wear and tear the Sedji green, while lovely, is 
apt to chip. 

You Want a Pewter Teapot 

Let us make a wish for you — that you may have a 
pewter teapot. If you are going to buy one, hunt up some 
antique shop and in some dusty, neglected corner you may 
find this jewel. Incidentally, don't ask the price of it as 
soon as you enter the shop. The more carelessly and indif- 
ferently you approach the price question, the more change 
you are likely to have in your purse when you have made 
your purchase. Antique shops as a rule do not adopt the 
one-price method. 

In the summer your iced tea set will of course be of 
crystal. Sometimes try adding orange juice to the tea and 
see what a delicious drink it is. 

There is much more to tea drinking than just drinking 
tea. The delightful intimacy of an afternoon over teacups 
will often seal your social standing with your visitors. 

Refreshing Drinks 

Here are some drinks to serve to favored callers while 
you are chatting together on your porch. With a little 
planning and not much work you can make delicious, 
refreshing beverages and have them ready to serve to your 
guests, quickly and easily. 

Keep stored in your refrigerator, a jar of sugar syrup, 
a bottle of grape juice, a bottle of ginger ale, some sprigs 

32 



Your Porch 

of mint, and some oranges and lemons. Sugar syrup is 
easily made by boiling together three cups of granulated 
sugar and one cup of water. Boil only one minute — 
no more, no less. This syrup, when chilled, will keep 
indefinitely and sweetens drinks more satisfactorily and 
economically than loose sugar, which you know takes time 
to dissolve. 

Hints on Flavoring 

Should you use tea as a foundation for your drinks, 
make it fresh. Steep the tea and while warm pour it in 
the serving glasses over cracked ice, if you are serving iced 
tea. Fresh tea added to fruit juices will be so disguised 
that one not caring for tea will drink your drink and surely 
ask for more. Tea, orange juice, sugar syrup, and a few 
sticks of cinnamon or a few whole cloves make a different 
and delicious drink. Another delicious drink is made from 
equal parts of lemonade and ginger ale. Just before 
serving add a sprig of mint to each glass. This drink is 
suggestive of the famous mint julep of fragrant memory. 

A Satisfying Decoction 

If you chop half a pound of Canton ginger and add to 
it a cupful of sugar and boil in a quart of water for fifteen 
minutes, then strain and add to it a cupful of lemon juice 
and serve it on cracked ice, you will have a most satisfying 
drink. 

You will be thankful ever after if you have a water 
supply piped to the edge of your porch. To be able to 
turn a tap and flush the porch floor every morning is a 

33 



The Hope Chest 



blessing. If your porch has vines and flower boxes it will 
save a vast amount of labor if an abundant supply of water 
is ready at hand. By all means, have a porch water supply 
— and your porch can be kept sweet and clean with a 
minimum of effort. 



34 



"If you would see yourself truly, stand a moment 
at the door of your living room, for it is your 
reflection' 




Living Room 

WELL-KNOWN authority on interior dec- 
oration has covered the subject of the 
living room in one sentence: "Place 
the four walls of your living room only 
lich is useful, beautiful and suitable to the 
people who will use the room." In other words, 
let your living room reflect your spiritual, men- 
tal and physical activities. 
The living room is a modern innovation. It appeared 
about the time apartment houses began to reach skyward 
and parlors to make their exit. To be quite literal, the 
living room is a cross between the parlor and the family 
sitting room of a decade ago. 

37 



The Hope Chest 



There is unique joy in choosing the furniture for this 
room because, if wisely chosen, each piece will in time 
develop into an heirloom. Never be in a hurry to finish 
your living room. If you purchase all its necessary ap- 
pointments at one time, you will later regret it. There is 
real pleasure in a piece of furniture selected to fill some 
particular need that has been carefully considered in rela- 
tion to its harmony with all the other furniture in the room. 
This is especially true if it has been wished for, saved for 
and finally paid for. Then its arrival will be like that of 
a friend. ^^^^^ jj^^^^ Principles 

The three principles of balance, harmony and rhythm, 
that every artist applies to a picture, are applicable to the 
plans of a room. Try to learn their meaning. You will 
find they are of real value in arranging not only your 
living room but every room in your house. 

Speaking of floors is perhaps prosaic, but as they are 
the groundwork upon which we build our room, they are 
worthy of much consideration. A floor should be unob- 
trusive. Usually it should be a few tones darker than the 
woodwork of the room. 

Consider Your Floors 
The usual saflfron-colored, so-called hardwood floors 
are an abomination to one with the soul of an artist. 
Landlords may sell their houses on the reputation 
of these very floors, but people with good taste 
immediately change them. Their very color unfits them 
for a satisfactory development of any color scheme of 
which they are a part. 

38 



Your Living Room 



Painted floors are attractive, especially if two shades 
darker than the rest of the woodwork. If your floors are 
old, paint them first with floor lac, or any good filler. 
Before applying this priming coat fill the cracks with 
putty, and allow two days for drying. Then apply two 
coats of any reliable waterproof varnish. This will make a 
floor that is easily cleaned. If you prefer a wax finish, use 
only one coat of varnish and two coats of floor wax, which 
is best applied with a weighted brush. 

Waxed floors are more beautiful than varnished floors 
but they require more time expended on their daily care, 
if you would keep them beautiful. 

Walls and Ceilings 

Well-toned woodwork, walls and ceilings are a neces- 
sity in good decorating. Should your new home be in 
rooms planned only to yield a certain number of dollars 
to the purse of your landlord each month, change them. 
Landlords are quite adaptable to change, provided the 
expense connected with the suggested change is borne by 
the tenant. Much of the work, such as painting floors and 
woodwork, you can do yourself. If your husband has the 
time to help you, so much the better. 

The Color Scheme 

Decorate your living room in a color adapted to its 
use. If you prefer one tone, let each tint or shade melt into 
the other. If contrasting colors be used, be careful to 
choose those that combine well. Dark woodwork and light 
walls seldom are pleasing. Should your room be dark, as 

39 



The Hope Chest 



is the way of many city rooms, make your walls fairly light 
and paint the woodwork white or ivory. This color scheme 
is especially suitable for a colonial living room. 

If Your Rooms Be Small 

It is wise, if your rooms be small, to make each room or 
hall opening off the living room the same color, or at least 
a tint or shade of that color. This method has a tendency 
to add to the size of the main room. The woodwork and 
walls should harmonize and the ceilings be slightly 
lighter. 

If you are planning to be your own decorator, it is well 
before purchasing paint to get a painter to mix some 
samples for you. These can readily be applied to a smooth 
piece of wood. When you have an effect that satisfies you, 
take it to the store from which you expect to purchase the 
covering for your walls. Having an exact sample of paint 
will make it easy for you to select a paper that will result 
in a pleasing harmony. Take the same piece of painted 
wood and samples of the wall-paper you have chosen with 
you when you make a tour of the shops in quest of mate- 
rials for draperies. This will save future disappointment 
and you will have a definite knowledge of expense before 
you begin. 

For Low-Ceilinged Rooms 

Should the ceilings of your room be low, additional 
height may seemingly be attained by placing the picture 
molding at the very top of the side walls, or should the 
ceilings be too high you may seemingly lower this effect 

40 



Your Living Room 



by bringing the ceiling paper down over the side walls to 
the depth of two, or even more, feet. The picture molding 
will cover where the papers meet. 

Tones of cream, yellow, gray, brown or green are all 
suitable for the living room. Cream and yellow are adapt- 
able for rooms facing the north. Green and gray are restful 
and happy colors for rooms that are flooded with sunlight. 

In Tones of Green 

An extremely livable room, and one of which you are 
not likely to tire, has its standing woodwork enameled in 
green, its walls painted or papered in plain green felt 
paper and its ceiling done in a trifle lighter tone. Mul- 
berry hangings are harmonious in such a room. Gray- 
green is the best of all greens for wall covering, as it is the 
only green that is rarely affected by the sun. If it should 
fade it will not develop into an ugly yellow-green, as do 
most greens. 

For a dark room let us suggest soft yellow for the walls. 
You will rejoice when you see the effect of sunlight you 
will have thus created. 

Plain Paper Is Best 

Plain papers are preferable to the figured ones. If you 
have some knowledge of design you might find an attrac- 
tive figured wall covering but, even so, unless your living 
room is large, it will not be suitable. Plain papers are un- 
obtrusive and you never tire of them. They always form a 
pleasing background for pictures. Good ingrain, burlap, 
felt and oatmeal papers are always in good taste, 

41 



The Hope Chest 



Washable wall paints are now on the market that are 
inexpensive and so easily manipulated that you can apply 
them yourself. Wood paneled walls are beautiful, espe- 
cially in the living room, but, unfortunately, they are cost- 
ly. Even the cheaper woods, which look well when paint- 
ed, require the services of a skilled artisan to finish them, 
so unless you own your home they are hardly advisable. 

The Curtain Problem 

Much of the success of your living room will depend 
on your windows and their hangings. They are a domi- 
nant factor in creating a real home atmosphere. Until you 
have hung your curtains your room will be bleak and 
drear. 

A curtain has three purposes: First, to assure privacy; 
second, to soften the light; third, to lend definite beauty 
to a room. One interior decorator likens a room to a pic- 
ture. The furniture being most prominent, is the fore- 
ground, the curtains the middle distance, and the walls and 
ceilings the background. If the rules of harmony, balance 
and rhythm are observed there is complete continuity, with 
the curtains acting as the connecting link between walls 
and furniture. Curtains lend the final note of grace and 
beauty to the picture. 

Hangings for Narrow Windows 

You can seemingly alter the architectural structure of 
a room with curtains, or even change the effect of the win- 
dows. For example, should your windows be too narrow, 
place the hangings beyond the edge of the window open- 

42 



Your Living Room 



ing, thus completely covering the woodwork. This is a 
practical method of covering unsightly woodwork. Usu- 
ally it is unwise to cover the woodwork, as it is necessary 
to keep the window part of the architecture of the room. 

Value of Side Drapes 

Should your ceiling be too low, you may add to its ap- 
parent height by hanging the side drapes in straight lines 
and making them of sufficient length to reach two feet be- 
low the window sill. The width of side drapes depends on 
the quality of the fabric used. Heavy materials may be 
eighteen inches in width. Softer materials will look better 
to be wider. A valance has a tendency to broaden the ap- 
pearance of a window. 

In a living room it is rarely necessary to use roller 
shades. They have no decorative value and tend to keep 
out the sunshine which is necessary to a healthy existence. 
Glooms and germs thrive in shade; better faded furniture 
than a family of invalids. Should you desire privacy, hang 
your side drapes on a separate rod, attaching the tops of 
the curtains to the rod with rings. On the upper middle 
edge of each drop sew a cord. Continue this cord through 
the rings of the opposite curtain and let it hang down the 
outer edge. To its end attach a tassel. Arrange a similar 
cord to the other curtain. With the aid of these cords you 
can draw your curtains together at night. 

Avoid the Sash Curtain 

Never use what is commonly known as sash curtains. 
They always detract from any room, except the kitchen. 

43 



The Hope Chest 



Here they may be at times a necessary evil. Let the cur- 
tains hang in straight lines. Make their lower hem to 
reach the window sill, never hang below. All glass cur- 
tains should be divided in the middle. They are more at- 
tractive so fashioned and more easily laundered. Make 
them one and one-half the width of the window. This will 
give the desired fullness. Use two-inch hems, plain or 
hemstitched. 

As to Curtain Rods 

Hang glass curtains on the most inconspicuous of 
white enameled metal rods. White spiral metal rods 
are also practical. Hang the side drapes from wooden 
rods, painted or finished to match the woodwork of the 
room. 

Before purchasing materials for curtains, look in two 
places: first, the upholstery department, and second, the 
dress goods department. Frequently you can find what 
you want in the latter place, where it will cost much less. 

Make Your Own Hangings 

Should you be a bride with a limited purse, make your 
curtains. You will save at least one-third the price of 
ready-made ones. Ecru or white net voile, marquisette, 
scrim or figured grenadine each will make soft, graceful 
glass curtains, quite suitable for even the most pretentious 
living room. For side drapes your choice will, of course, 
depend on your furnishings. English glazed chintz, do- 
mestic or imported linens, woolen reps and cretonnes all 
are attractive. Velours and tapestries are beautiful but 
costly. 

44 



Your Living Room 



Should you have little money and require curtains, let 
us suggest for side drapes a material well worthy of any 
time you may expend on it — plain unbleached muslin. 
Before laughing at the idea, think of the interesting weave 
of this plebeian muslin. Isn't it delightfully uneven? All 
that is necessary is a package of dye and you can with little 
efifort make it match the dominant note of any color 
scheme. Such curtains have real artistic worth. They will 
be a charming addition to any living room. Never use fig- 
ured draperies with figured walls. Always adhere to the 
rule of plain walls and figured draperies, or plain mate- 
rials and figured walls. 

Interesting Floor Coverings 

Shall it be rugs or carpets? A few years ago we should 
unhesitatingly have answered, rugs. Now the vacuum 
cleaner makes it possible to answer, either. Both have cer- 
tain advantages to recommend them. Whichever your 
choice may be, when selecting a covering for your living 
room, keep in mind three things — durability, design and 
color. You are selecting the groundwork upon which to 
build your room. The dominant note of color of a rug 
may suggest the color scheme upon which you develop 
your room. The quietest floors, those in tones that blend 
with the walls, are the most satisfying. They are the kind 
that you rarely notice, but the kind with which you will 
enjoy living. Plain walls and figured floor coverings, or 
vice versa, are always in good taste. 

Do not lament if you cannot have a Persian rug in 
your new home. Be content with a domestic one, for 

45 



The Hope Chest 

should your home be simply and modestly furnished, such 
a rug would prove a painful contrast. Oriental rugs, while 
beautiful and fascinating, frequently mar the harmony of 
a room. Some of them have intense coloring, so intense, in 
fact, that would you keep the proper tone balance, you 
would have to change your entire color scheme. 

The Choice of Rugs 

Never select a rug of vivid hue. Such a rug seemingly 
rises up to meet you and is never restful. Plain Wilton 
rugs will stand a great deal of wear and are attractive. 
Chenille mohair rugs, woven after the weave of the hand 
tufted rugs of Scotland, are made of fine wool and are well 
worthy of a place in any room. Scotch rugs made of wool 
are reversible and unusually artistic in design or, more 
frequently, lack of design, as the plain ones predominate 
and are the most attractive. It is well to search thoroughly 
for a floor covering for so important a room as the living 
room. Take time to think over what you have seen and 
compare qualities, designs and prices. You know you live 
with a carpet more than a few months, frequently more 
than a few years. 

Pleasing Color Schemes 

If you are a girl with an instinctive color sense, all will 
be well, but should you not have this sense, you can learn. 
There is no hard and fast rule to guide you in the number 
of colors to use in your living room. Of course, the less 
you know about color, the fewer you can combine. Three 
colors make an interesting room and are the safest number 

46 



Your Living Room 



for an amateur to handle. The following three schemes 
all are attractive, when properly developed: 

The first is a gray and mulberry combination. Use pale 
gray for your standing woodwork, a trifle lighter gray for 
the walls and ceilings, a plain dark gray rug, and some 
roomy willow chairs painted to match the woodwork, and 
a plain mulberry covered sofa and fireside chair. With 
these use figured mulberry hangings, preferably a design 
with an accent of black. Brass candlesticks will be neces- 
sary to introduce a note of gold, and a piece or two of pot- 
tery of darker hue than the hangings will complete the 
effect. A room so decorated will be both restful and 
cheerful. 

Blue, Yellow and Red 

The second color scheme is that ever popular decora- 
tive trio, blue, yellow and red. Of course, the colors must 
be modified. French blue, old gold and maroon will be 
attractive. A dash of reddish purple, possibly a bowl of 
purple morning-glories or violets, will be charming in 
such an environment. 

As a third suggestion you may try tan and old gold 
with a note of blue or green. Should you choose blue, a 
bowl of scarlet flowers would lend a merry touch of red, 
but if you select green, leave out the red. 

These combinations are suitable for any sized room 
and can be developed from simple or elaborate materials, 
depending on your purse. 

A lamp, candlestick, or wall fixture must be beautiful 
in itself to be really successful. The soft glow of night 

47 



The Hope Chest 



makes everything more beautiful, but the real test of a 
lamp is its effect in bright sunlight. 

Today, even in the country, electricity is not only pos- 
sible but practical. Electric w^ires are unobtrusive and can 
be carried through the smallest hole in a jar or vase, so 
there is really no excuse for a lack of reading lights. 

The Living Room Lights 

In arranging lights it is well to know that if your room 
is decorated in dark colors, the light will be more readily 
absorbed than if decorated in light colors. This fact must 
guide you in placing your lighting fixtures. Side brackets 
are practical and even the least expensive are usually well 
designed. The chandelier found in the center of the aver- 
age living room, is seldom a thing of beauty. If you have 
a landlord, use your persuasive powers and ask him to re- 
move it. Your side fixtures and a lamp or two will be suf- 
ficient. There will be many occasions when the fire glow 
and the candles will give all the light necessary. 

Home-Made Lamps 

Lamps are costly as lamps, but pottery jars which can 
be easily converted into lamps are not prohibitive in price. 
Hunt through the shops for a one-tone pottery vase — 
orange or mulberry ones are beautiful. If your purse per- 
mits, crackle ware always is desirable. A really worth- 
while lamp can be made from a stone pickle crock, such 
as you will likely find in your mother's cellar. All that is 
necessary to convert this old gray jar into a really attractive 
lamp, is to place a few daubs of oil paint upon its surface. 

48 



Your Living Room 



Squeeze small portions of paint from the tube, here and 
there over the jar, and with the tip of your finger rub the 
paint into its surface. Use a rotary motion and you will get 
an unusual color effect. You can use three tones of the 
same color, or tones of contrasting color. When you have 
finished place the jar in some closet, as far as possible re- 
moved from dust. It will take it at least ten days to dry, 
but when you bring it forth you will be surprised at its 
sheer beauty. Such a jar will make a beautiful base for a 
lamp. 

Inexpensive Shades 

You can easily make a shirred silk shade, finishing 
the edge with guimpe or fringe. Or you can purchase or 
paint a parchment shade. A plain oil parchment shade is 
attractive when finished with black and gold guimpe. 

Should you feel that this shade requires an extra deco- 
ration, draw a parallel band one-half inch wide about the 
top and bottom, and paint this with black water-proof ink. 

Floor lamps, when designed on graceful lines, are at- 
tractive. When of proper height they are useful as read- 
ing lamps. Be careful in selecting floor lamps to choose a 
conservative design, as so many of these lamps are too or- 
nate, especially the shades. 

Choice of Furniture 

Did you ever think just what you would want in your 
living room if cost did not enter into the plan? If so, would 
these things, could you have them, be truly suitable for the 
living room of your new home? Probably not. When the 

49 



The Hope Chest 



family income grows larger and your home becomes more 
pretentious, they will be in keeping, but now in your first 
living room choose only things that are suitable. Those 
other things will come one at a time as your income makes 
them possible. Even now buy slowly, with the idea of com- 
fort first and always. 

Get big, welcoming chairs and a long sofa, a table, and, 
if possible, a bench, with perhaps a picture, some candle- 
sticks and a place to write, a clock and some pottery. These 
will be all. 

Always beware of sets. Individual pieces, when 
chosen with care, will give you daily satisfaction. 

Should you have a piano, place it so that it does not 
dominate the room. Put the sofa near the fire and beside 
the sofa, usually at one end, a small table for a lamp, or a 
tea tray or a bowl of flowers. 

Selecting Your Table 

Should your room be large, a table designed in the 
English refectory style will be attractive. If not, a gate-leg 
table will be what you will need. A large, roomy, winged 
fireside chair and a willow chair or two, painted to har- 
monize with the woodwork, should be cushioned with the 
same material as the draperies. Some low open shelves, 
built along the wall and finished like the rest of the wood- 
work, will be necessary. Open shelves are comfortable and 
also practical in these days of vacuum cleaners and their 
contents give an added note of color to a room, as well as 
friendly greeting. Later you may add a highboy and the 
willow chairs can be transferred to your summer camp 

50 



Your Living Room 



and the plain writing table of your first room be supplant- 
ed by a real Chippendale desk. But aim to keep your first 
room simple, A growing fern or a pot of geraniums is 
cheerful and friendly. 

The Pictures Must Be Good 

Among your wedding gifts there probably will be pic- 
tures. Frequently they have been selected by a relative or 
friend, or perhaps some enterprising salesman, with little 
knowledge of art. If you are sensible you will place all 
art monstrosities you receive in your guest room and when 
a guest arrives other than the donor you can remove them 
to some closet. Never mar the walls of your living room 
with them, for the lack of culture and refinement in a 
home is more often revealed by a poor choice of pictures 
than in any other way. 

If your new home does not boast of a library and you 
are the possessor of an ancestral portrait or two, you simply 
must hang them in your living room. Photographs should 
never be placed in so public a place. The casual caller is 
not interested in them and they have no artistic value to 
recommend them. 

Use Care in Hanging 

Etchings, photogravures and sepia prints are appropri- 
ate in a living room. Large pictures require large wall 
spaces. Never hang a small picture near a large one ; rather 
group small pictures together. In hanging pictures, color 
should be kept in mind. It makes a more pleasing efifect to 
group sepia tints together. This same rule applies to water 

51 



The Hope Chest 



colors. For example, a water color would not be well 
placed if hung in close proximity to a sepia tint and an en- 
graving, but a group of three water colors would be at- 
tractive. You must also consider light when you hang 
pictures. This is especially necessary when placing paint- 
ings done in oil. 

Joy in Jap Prints 

Japanese prints are beginning to be appreciated by 
other folk than artists. Perhaps it is because we are learn- 
ing more about them that we care so much. They seem 
surrounded by an atmosphere of mystery that appeals to 
each of us in a different way. These prints are very useful 
in introducing a note of color in a room. It adds to the 
appearance of a group to have the frames alike. Generally 
speaking, the frame should match the darkest tone in the 
picture. Mats are rarely necessary. The width of the 
frame depends on the subject of the picture. If it be big 
and bold, such as a powerful body of water, a number of 
trees or a mountain, then it will be necessary to use a wide 
substantial frame, but should it be a Japanese print of a 
moon and a bird, make the frame a mere boundary line. 

Level with the Eye 

A safe rule to follow in hanging pictures is to keep 
them on a level with the eye, so they may be inspected with 
comfort. Heavy pictures should be suspended from a 
molding and then by two parallel lines. Silk cords to 
match the wall covering are best suited for this purpose. 

52 



Your Living Room 



Wire can be used but it should be painted the same color 
as the wall. 

Pictures are not so much a feature of good decoration 
as they were a few years ago. They have been carried to 
excess. We have learned to realize the beauty of plain 
walls. This does not mean that we care less for real works 
of art but it means we care less for the mediocre. 

Should you be the happy possessor of a piece of tapes- 
try, hang it above a hand-carved Italian treasure chest and 
should you also have a polychrome torcher, place it near 
the chest. Such a combination will make a most beautiful 
unit of form. 

Clocks as Companions 

An open fire and a ticking clock lend personality and 
life to any room. A clock is companionable and it seem- 
ingly enters into all our moods and tenses. If we be merry, 
it cheerfully notes each passing minute, or if we be in quiet 
mood, its dreamy tick-tock keeps pace with our thoughts. 
Clocks have ever held the attention of both artist and poet. 

A clock should have a definite environment. The 
colonial clock requires a colonial room. What could be 
more pleasing than an old mahogany banjo clock or a 
modern reproduction in polychrome or gilt, hung above a 
mahogany console table on which rests two mahogany or 
brass candlesticks? 

The Temperamental Clock 

A French clock, with its plain glass sides, is one of 
which we never tire, but like the people who designed it, 

53 



The Hope Chest 



it is temperamental, and utterly refuses to go if disturbed 
or set upon a shelf that is not absolutely level. 

We hope that some day you will have a grandfather's 
clock — not a huge modern reproduction, but rather one 
fashioned after the graceful lines of the real clocks of the 
Revolutionary period and also may you have a stairway 
in keeping with such a treasure. 

Never hang a wall clock too high ; place it where you 
can look it squarely in the face. 



54 



"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a 
stalled ox and hatred therewith" 




CHAPTER IV 




Your Dining Room 
OUR DINING ROOM should not be a room set apart, 



I which you enter three times each day to partake of 
food. Should your home be a bungalow, your din- 
ing room may be a corner of your living room, for in such 
a case one large room will be more satisfying than the 
same space divided into two rooms of meagre size. Or, if 
you live high up in some city apartment, you may have a 
combination kitchenette and breakfast room, which, if it 
be cheerful, will be quite sufficient. 

Again, you may have a huge dining room in some far- 
away farm, where you eat your meals to the accompani- 
ment of the birds, and from the windows gaze out over the 
summer hills. 

57 



The Hope Chest 



Wherever your room may be, light toned walls, flow- 
ers and sunshine are more important than carved oak 
beams, storied paintings, or furniture that has come down 
through several generations. 

Two Things to Consider 

Two things must be considered when you plan a dining 
room — light and ventilation. If you would have it beau- 
tiful, keep your dining room simple. There is a certain 
formality about this room that must be retained. A table 
and chairs it must have, consoles or cupboards may prove 
welcome additions, but as soon as you place within its four 
walls pictures and an endless variety of cut glass and china, 
it will lose its simplicity and thus will vanish its charm. 

If you keep it orderly and the furniture so placed that 
you do not break the laws of balance, and its walls are un- 
adorned, and your silver and glass reside on shelves of 
your cupboard, this room though modestly furnished will 
be dignified and beautiful. Here space will count for 
much. In most rooms sets are to be avoided, but not so in 
the dining room. There is much decorative value in a pair 
of candlesticks, a pair of porcelain jars, or a pair of side 
tables. 

A Decorator's Suggestion 

One well-known decorator suggests drawing imaginary 
lines from corner to corner of your dining room, and at the 
intersection of these diagonal lines place your table. 
Should your room have a long, low window across one 
wall, place consoles against the opposite wall. This ar- 

S8 



Your Dining Room 



rangement preserves the balance. Should there be no long, 
low window, but a fireplace with a mirror above, place the 
console against the opposite wall. This law of balance is 
important. 

The Breakfast Nook 

A breakfast nook in lieu of a dining hall is rather far 
removed but most attractive on a winter morning! Hot 
cakes on the electric griddle made while you eat! Many 
small apartments consist of a living room, bedroom, kitch- 
enette and bath. This means a breakfast nook — small, 
but adequate. All that is necessary are two wooden 
benches, preferably with high backs, and ends fashioned 
like church pews. These are usually placed on either side 
of a window. These seats are about five feet long. Between 
the seats is placed the table. It may be a plain pine table 
or an old-fashioned ironing board table, which later on, 
when the little house materializes, can be used as a most 
attractive settle for porch or hall. Paint the three pieces 
of furniture that comprise this breakfast nook a deep 
cream, use blue and white Japanese runners, which are 
easily laundered, and undecorated cream-colored lustre 
ware, and you will have a most attractive though diminu- 
tive dining room. You will have sufficient room for an 
electric grill and percolator, which will mean that you 
can not only eat, but cook your food, and entertain a guest 
or two. 

A Practical Combination 

The combination dining room and living room is both 
simple and practical. All that is necessary is to have two 

59 



The Hope Chest 



consoles that can be placed together to form a large table 
when in use and four comfortable, straight-back chairs, 
that when not on dining room service will lend a bide-a- 
while air to your living room, and a tea wagon. Of course, 
all dishes and, in fact, anything suggestive of meals, must 
be kept in your kitchen or pantry. The tables can be placed 
against the wall when not in use and may be decorated 
with a bowl of flowers or a growing plant. 

The Stately Dining Room 

If you have some dining room pieces of colonial wal- 
nut or mahogany, you should be happy in its possession. 
About even one piece of such furniture you can build a 
beautiful room. Paper your walls with a colonial landscape 
design. Such a paper gives a room an atmosphere of the 
days of long ago. It is quaint and, because of its color, 
cheerful. You will not tire of such a design. Paint the 
woodwork cream or white, curtain the windows in white 
voile hung in straight folds against the glass. Side drapes 
will be unnecessary, but should you feel you must have 
them, make them of linen of some plain color. Choose 
linen of a weave resembling the hand woven kind of colo- 
nial times. 

Colonial Cupboards Are Good 

Build, if possible, two colonial cupboards. Consult 
your architect about their arrangements; he will under- 
stand placing them so that they become a part of the room. 
Paint them to match the rest of the woodwork. An open 
fire will lend a touch of color, and shed a glow of warmth. 

60 



Your Dining Room 



Over the fireplace hang a gold framed colonial mirror, 
and on the mantel shelf place a china dog in the center, 
with a candlestick of brass on either end. On the floor 
place a circular plaited rug, which may be of cotton or 
silk. In such an atmosphere your furniture will be in its 
proper environment and you will have a room that sat- 
isfies. 

The Joy of China 

China will be one of your most prized possessions. Its 
selection will be largely a matter of individual taste and 
the size of your purse. For years the French manufac- 
tured the most coveted of all china and even now, while we 
have many newer chinas that the artists are favoring, the 
French china retains its popularity. 

The English furnaces are producing fascinating por- 
celains. The quality of these new varieties resembles the 
older English bone china. Much of the English china has 
a deep cream background, upon which are strewn sprigs 
of the quaintest posies, or perhaps an irresistible pheasant 
will spread his wings across each plate. The colors of this 
china are true and the glaze is unusually good and we are 
assured that it does not chip. 

Charming and Individual 

There is much that is individual and charming about 
the English china. Many of the plates are of octagon 
design. The cups are squatty, and some of them also have 
eight sides. Others have tall graceful handles reaching 
up above the cups. And the pitchers are a real joy. 

In purchasing your first china do not be misled by the 

6i 



The Hope Chest 



attractive advertisements of the hundred-piece set. Much 
of such a set you would never use. Rather purchase by 
courses from stock patterns. Eight is usually a sufficient 
quantity but if you must keep it in a kitchenette, four may 
be all you will require. Such a number will, however, 
limit you to only two guests at one time. 

When you are browsing about the china departments, 
do look at the lustre china. It is literally radiant. It can be 
had in almost any color. The yellow and turquoise blue 
are both beautiful. This china will be just what you want 
if you have a breakfast room or for your tea-table, and it 
is inexpensive. 

The Cup That Cheers 

Everybody cannot make a cup of tea; but the English 
women! They have the secret 1 They love to tell us, "Care 
is the price of a good cup of tea." 

Never keep the tea in an open container, rather keep 
it in a glass or china vessel after opening it. An old Eng- 
lish saying is, "Tea breweth best in a brown teapot." 

Bear in mind that water for tea must be boiled quickly, 
never stewed; a mere detail but important. Water is boil- 
ing when the entire surface of the kettle is covered with 
bubbles, not just one side. Tea must never boil; it should 
steep for three minutes, then be served very hot. 

The Useful Tea Cozy 

Be sure to make a tea cozy, with which to cover your 
teapot when it stands on your tea carriage ready to be 
served. Daintiness is the keynote of all tea cozies, so make 

62 



Your Dining Room 



the outside cover one that can be laundered. The founda- 
tion may be of lamb's wool or silk to match the color of 
your china and the covering of filet lace or swiss. Any ma- 
terial of sufficient sheerness to reveal the underlying color 
will do. 

Hot Chocolate 

Hot chocolate is always right for a cold night. 

This needn't be an expensive sort of refreshment. 
Whipped cream is nice, but isn't a necessary luxury. There 
is an easier way, and not nearly so expensive. 

Use milk in place of cream in your chocolate or cocoa, 
and just before removing it from the fire, beat it vigorously 
with an egg beater. The efifect will be almost the same as 
if you had used whipped cream. If you care to serve small 
cakes with your hot chocolate, you can spend on them the 
pennies you saved on the cream. Oatmeal cookies are al- 
ways liked. 

OATMEAL MACAROONS 

I egg 2 cups rolled oats 

^ cup sugar 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 

I tablespoonful butter 34 cup syrup 

y2 teaspoonful salt i teaspoonful lemon extract 

Beat sugar with melted butter, add well beaten egg yolk, syrup, oat- 
meal and salt. Add to this well beaten white of egg, lemon extract, and 
baking powder. Mix well and drop one-half teaspoonful for each maca- 
roon, in well greased pan. Bake about ten minutes, and let cool in pan 
before removing. 

This recipe is one of the culinary trophies taught us 
during war times, but is good enough for any time. 

63 



The Hope Chest 



You will enjoy a dining room in the open. Fix up your 
side or back porch, for the open-air dining room must be 
in close proximity to the kitchen. Its furnishings should 
be few and simple. Cover the floor with an inlaid lino- 
leum of a large black-and-white tile effect. Use any round 
table and paint it a soft gray. Also paint four ladder-back 
straight chairs the same color. These chairs can be pur- 
chased unfinished among porch furniture. On each round 
of the ladder-back paint a nosegay. With this furniture 
use plain linen doilies or runners, decorated with the same 
design of nosegay done in cross-stitch. Use china deco- 
rated with small sprigs of flowers. As a centre piece a low 
bowl of field daisies or larkspur will be lovely. Such a 
room, if framed in wistaria or climbing roses, will be irre- 
sistible. 



64 



"Don't turn out no sick cookin as is first aid to 
de undertaker' 




CHAPTER V 



Polly. Put the Kettle On 



I^F YOU have dreamed of a blue and white kitchen, 
B or a reproduction of a Dutch one, then plan a little 

J^ and hunt through the household departments of 
the stores before you buy a single thing. 

The first requisite of an ideal kitchen is sunshine. If 
your kitchen is dark and tucked up under the eaves of a 
city apartment, you can at least make it bright. If you are 
a bride with many ideas and few dollars, do not be discour- 
aged. Never buy makeshifts; rather do without at first 
and practice "watchful waiting." Haunt sales and read 
advertisements. 

One thing we solemnly advise — insist on an inlaid 
linoleum to cover the entire kitchen floor. The patterns 
that have been designed to represent Dutch tiles are a good 

67 



The Hope Chest 



choice. If your kitchen has a northern exposure or is 
shaded by a near-by building, as is often the way of city 
kitchens, then you must introduce your notes of sunshine. 
A white and yellow color scheme is excellent. Try cream 
walls and woodwork, yellow and white tiled linoleum, and 
the necessary furniture painted yellow and white, with 
trimmings of burnt orange. 

Strict Utility Here 

Select only furniture that is absolutely necessary. An 
easy chair, rockerless, of course, and a stool the exact 
height to fit an enameled top table, will be sufficient seat- 
ing capacity for you. A kitchen cabinet is indispensable. 

Keep time in mind when you plan your kitchen. Spell 
it with capital letters, for remember time saved in the 
kitchen means leisure to be spent in the garden and living 
room. One phrase that might almost be called a kitchen 
slogan is, "Two shelves for every kitchen." On one is a 
clock and clock only, and on the other will be your cook 
books and card index of recipes, and the popular novel you 
will want to read while waiting for the cake to brown. Do 
not place the clock near the stove, as the steam from the 
cooking will rust the works of the clock. 

Do It Electrically 

If you would be modern, do it electrically. The writers 
were in a quandary as to how to place the following sug- 
gestions, because, as Aunt Hannah said when she was 
asked how she made her wonderful pound cake, "I'se use 
a lapful of eggs and an all overishness of butter," and so 

68 



Polly, Put the Kettle On 



house furnishings might be described as so many tables, so 
many chairs, so many dishes and "an all overishness" of 
electricity. 

The Electric Grill 

Is there a room in the house that is complete without 
its electric device? Even your boudoir, if you be a straight- 
haired maiden who would be curly, will have an electric 
curling iron. Our grandmothers believed that home-keep- 
ing hearts were happiest and home was where they stayed. 
We believe that as well as they did, but somehow we 
don't stay at home waiting for fires to draw and kettles 
to bubble forth in joyous melody. No, indeed, and yet we 
pride ourselves in a well-appointed table laden with well- 
cooked food. With an electric grill we can even prepare 
an entire meal on the table. We hope every bride that did 
not have the forethought to pack one of these useful little 
helps to good housekeeping away in some recess of her 
hope chest will number one among her wedding presents. 

It Makes for Companionship 

Think what it will mean on some wintry morning not 
to have to stand waiting and watching the pot that seem- 
ingly never will boil on the range, while your heart is with 
the man in the dining room awaiting patiently, as is the 
way of grooms, his coffee and eggs! With an electric grill 
the coffee and eggs will be finishing right in your view 
while you eat your cereal together. Then think how cozy 
it will be to come home after the play and have some 
creamed oysters on toast rather than go to the cafe with all 
the rest of the folks. 

69 



The Hope Chest 



Aside from all the things you have and do not need, 
and all the things you long for and do not have, do let us 
urge you to have and use an oaken plank. It will make pos- 
sible a w^hole meal on one dish, w^hich means less dish 
washing and a wealth of fragrant, savory food. Once you 
acquire the plank habit you will adhere to it with more 
tenacity than you do to your roasting pan. 

The Right Kind of Plank 

Select a plank eleven inches in diameter. Insist on one 
with a deep groove that leads to a shallow well at one end 
in which gathers the most delectable gravy. After using 
wash the plank with hot soapy water. With care it can 
easily be kept clean. The longer the plank is in use the 
better it will seem. The fat will penetrate the innermost 
recesses of the wood and you will find you will need less 
and less fat as time goes on. 

Rub a new plank with lard and place it in the oven. 
When it is smoking hot it is ready for the fish or the steak 
and vegetables. When one side of the fish or meat is brown 
remove the plank from the oven, turn the contents, arrange 
the potatoes or other vegetables about the edge and replace 
the plank in the oven to complete the cooking. By the time 
the meat is brown the vegetables will be tender and appe- 

^^^^"S- Pressure Cooking 

A whole kitchen kettle equipment may be had in one 
wonderful utensil — a pressure cooker. Think of a kettle 
that will roast meats in one-third the usual time, cook 
cereal more palatably in one-third less time or even cook 
an entire meal! 

70 



Polly, Put the Kettle On 



A pressure cooker insures a real saving of time, fuel 
and food. It is modern and practical. The initial cost 
may seem considerable, but it will in a short time pay for 
itself in the reduction it will make possible in fuel bills. 

Such a cooker, being made of aluminum, is easily 
handled and cleaned and it has no intricate parts to get out 
of order. It has a safety valve, which insures against all 
possibility of an explosion. One of these cookers in your 
kitchen will go a long way in keeping the digestion of 
your family healthy. 

All for the Kitchen 

There are even fashions in dishpans. Once the popular 
pan was round and exasperatingly wobbly in the average 
sink. Now it is oblong and motionless. The new dishpan 
is a real comfort. It is made of aluminum, is light in 
weight, and durable. 



Some wise woman has invented stainless steel knives. 
Think what it will mean to prepare acid grape fruit and 
not as an aftermath have a seance with the scouring cloth! 
These knives cost about the same as any other knife of the 
same grade. 



Purchase a carborundum knife sharpener. They are 
far superior to a steel and much easier to use. 



Select an aluminum griddle. It will require no greas- 
ing, will not chip as will a soapstone one, will be light to 

71 



The Hope Chest 



handle, and easily kept clean. Remember, if you would 
have your griddle fulfill its capacity for usefulness, to heat 
it slowly. 



Metallic pan cloths and mops are indispensable and 
they are just as easy to keep clean as the usual cotton 
varieties. 



72 



"Ken when to spend, and when to spare, 
And when to buy, and you II neer he hare"' 




^ CHAPTER VI 

The Art of Marketing 



(HE WHO makes an art of her housekeeping, recog- 
nizes the importance of marketing. It is worth 
while to have your husband content and well; 
never to have him longing for the table of his home to be 
as attractive and appetizing as the one at his club or the 
cafe he patronizes. On your market basket and prepara- 
tion of food will largely depend the amount of soda mints 
he will buy. Greasy, fried foods and smiles will not keep 
company very long. 

To the modern woman, whose housekeeping means 
partnership, there is great satisfaction in doubling dollars 
by spending them carefully. Price is not an infallible cri- 

75 




The Hope Chest 



terion of food. The order we send by telephone is the one 
for which we generally pay the biggest price. There is a 
fascination about package goods, but a fancy package usu- 
ally means less of the product; however, the cleanliness of 
handling them many times will compensate for the loss in 
quantity. 

Watch Your Weights 

In marketing it is well to watch weights and measures. 
It is justice to yourself and to your dealer to occasionally 
take time to weigh or measure your purchases after you 
get them home. We ought to be as careful to see that we 
do not cheat ourselves as that we do not cheat our neigh- 
bors. 

The thermometer will regulate your buying, for sum- 
mer and winter foods should differ greatly. If you are to 
keep your family happy and well, you must study variety. 
There must be phosphates for bone, and nitrogen for 
nerves, and carbonates for tissue building, and variety in 
all for pleasure in the eating and comfort in the digesting. 

A good book on diet will be helpful. One of the newest 
and best is "Eating to Live Long," by Dr. William Henry 
Porter. 

Marketing for Meat 

Since meat is fundamentally the backbone of every 
dinner, it is perhaps of paramount importance. The very 
best, even if not the most pleasant way, to go meat market- 
ing, is to go yourself to the meat market and learn. Here 
are some tested and proven suggestions. 

Good beef has a fine grain, is firm, and the fat is light 

76 



The Art of Marketing 



creamy in color. Never buy beef with deep yellow fat. 
The smaller the bones for the size of the beef, the better 
the grade. Steaks, while seemingly most expensive, are 
really economical, as there is little waste to them. Do not 
feel that you must confine your beef purchases to sirloin 
steaks and rib roasts. Delicious stews and pot roasts can 
be made from less expensive cuts. 

As to Lamb and Mutton 

Leg of lamb is a satisfactory roast. Shoulder of lamb 
is good and not so expensive as the leg. When buying 
mutton never select any that has soft yellow fat and 
stringy meat, for you can depend upon it these are both 
signs of inferior quality. The better grade mutton has 
white fat and the meat is a firm and rather dark red. Mut- 
ton and lamb are nutritious and easily digested. 

Pork is not easily digested, but in order to vary your 
menu an occasional loin roast of pork or a slice of ham will 
be welcome. In buying bacon, which, of course, you will 
need for our American bacon-and-egg breakfast, choose 
the sliced bacon, as it is more easily handled. 

Fish for Food 

Most men like fish. Not every one can sit in a boat 
under a leafy canopy and catch silvery trout, but the fish 
you buy will largely be determined by the locality in 
which you live, and those caught near your home are likely 
to be fresher and cheaper. Inland sections of the country 
have the whitefish, pike, herring, perch and other fresh 
water varieties. If you live near the sea coast you usually 

77 



The Hope Chest 



can buy from early in the spring until late winter, fresh 
mackerel, sea bass, weakfish, porgy, butterfish and mullet. 
The freshness of the fish may be determined when 
marketing by the brightness of the eyes, the redness of the 
gills, and the firmness of the flesh, especially along the 
backbone. These are infallible tests. Dead-looking eyes 
and bloodless gills mean stale fish. Never let your fish 
dealer sell you a stale fish. 

The Vegetable Market 

In the vegetable market you will find much food for 
thought. If your table is to be supplied healthfully and 
economically, you must give vegetables much roam. You 
will be decidedly better of]f financially if your menu shall 
be largely vegetable during the seasons when they are 
growing in your midst. 

A good cook can be almost independent of her butcher 
should she want to, for there is usually such an abundance 
and variety of green stufifs. You are fortunate if your green 
vegetables come direct to you from a farm or garden in the 
summer time, but if not, a good rule to judge by is the 
freshness of their leaves. 

Demand Fresh Vegetables 

Stale vegetables, beside having lost their flavor, have 
also lost some of their nutritive principles, and their cellu- 
lose casings toughen with age and resist the digestive juices. 

Insist on fresh vegetables ; then keep them in the refrig- 
erator until used. Cold water will help to freshen the leaf 
vegetables if they are withered. Lemon juice or a table- 

78 



The Art of Marketing 



spoonful of vinegar to a quart of cold water will help to 
restore withered lettuce leaves. 

The buying of potatoes and onions in quantity for 
winter use will largely depend upon your storage capacity. 
If you can store them in a dry, cool place, buy them in 
quantity; it is usually the way of economy. 

Choosing Cheese 

It would almost pay the women's colleges that aim to 
teach all a girl needs to know, to add a course on cheese 
marketing. Possibly it would help you more just now to 
have taken this course than to know that the perimeters of 
two similar polygons have the same ratio as any two corre- 
sponding sides. You see there are almost as many varieties 
of cheese as there are theorems in geometry. 

As a Substitute for Meat 

Right here in America we make good Edam, Camem- 
bert. Brie, pineapple, Swiss, a few varieties of spiced 
cheese, and different kinds of cream cheese. Everywhere 
we are beginning to adopt the French custom of serving 
cheese as a fillip to the appetite at the end of a meal. Men 
generally are fond of cheese. Our scientists assure us that 
cheese is almost twice as nutritious as the average meat 
dish. It is certainly a true and safe meat substitute. The 
piquant combinations to which cheese is adapted will add 
a new flavor to many an everyday dish. On the table, in 
the sandwich, with the salad, in the casserole — it has many 
possibilities, either as a food by itself, or as a delicious 
flavoring. 

79 



The Hope Chest 



Go to a reliable cheese merchant sometime and have 
him tell you all about the dififerent varieties of cheese. It 
will be worth the while and help you ever afterward in 
your marketing. 

The Value of Nuts 

Don't let the squirrels eat all the nuts! It is a mistake 
to depend solely on meats and butter for fats, for nuts are 
also a fat-supplying food. We are beginning to learn their 
value, for now great forests of coco-palms and paper shell 
pecans have been planted in Florida, California, and the 
Carolinas. In the tropics nuts are a food and not a candy 
or confection accessory, as we so often regard them. Nuts 
are less expensive than meat; fresh they must be, but 
nutritious and delicious they surely are, so go a-marketing 
for nuts. 

The cheap, ever-with-us peanut is valued as worth 
three times its weight in round steak, four times its weight 
in eggs, seven times its weight in potatoes, and twice its 
weight in bread. Peanut butter is greatly improved by 
adding, just before using it, enough cream to make it the 
consistency of mayonnaise dressing. As a sandwich filling, 
or a filling for stuffed dates, it is economical, nutritious, 
and generally regarded as delicious. 

To Blanch Almonds 

It is easy work to take a pound of almonds or peanuts, 
shell, pour a little boiling water over them, rub off the 
brown skin, put them into the oven, shaking them fre- 
quently that they may brown equally, pour over them a 

80 



The Art of Marketing 



little olive oil and sprinkle them with fine salt, and — well, 
no matter how many you eat, you always want one more. 

Can You Can? 

We will suppose that you have charm, good breeding 
and good looks — but can you can? If you are thinking of 
adding canning to your other household virtues, go mar- 
keting for choice fruit, for you will find it a hard task to 
make good canned fruit out of poor fresh fruit. Take time 
to sterilize all cans and can tops by boiling before you 
begin canning and you will have no mold on the top of 
the fruit in the jars. 

But if you are blissfully ignorant of canning and can't 
can, you can buy a can of almost all edible foods, and 
such effective war has been waged against the preserva- 
tives formerly used by commercial canners, that now with 
assurance you can use canned goods free from injurious 
preservatives. Canned goods may not always possess the 
gastronomic equivalent of fresh foods, but among vege- 
tables peas and tomatoes, and among fruits apricots and 
peaches retain most of the fine flavor of the garden and 
orchard. You will find, when unexpected guests arrive, 
that a well-stocked pantry of canned goods, domestic and 
commercial, is a treasure house. 

Delicatessen Dainties 

Only one of every seventeen American families are 
said to keep servants, so if you are one of the sixteen you 
will sometimes find a delicatessen store a friend in need, 
but viewed in its most favorable light it is not healthful 

8i 



The Hope Chest 



or economical to live regularly on prepared foods such as 
one ordinarily finds in a delicatessen store. 

We are drifting more and more away from a purely 
domestic life, and the right-here-ness of food ready to set 
on the table may mean time gained to attend a club 
meeting or a concert. If you find yourself all run-down- 
at-the-heels physically and mentally, it might be better to 
patronize the delicatessen than miss the concert, but do not 
do this regularly. 

Be discriminating in your selection of such a store. 
Good home cooking can rarely be found outside of the 
home. Sometimes a woman who unexpectedly must work 
out her own economic independence runs one of these 
stores where only pure foods are sold. 



82 



"To each, to all, a fair goodnight. 
And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light*' 




CHAPTER VII 

Your Bedroom 

|HIS IS the one room in your new home 
that can be considered a law unto 
itself. You may make of it what you 
will, have it frivolous and gay or quiet and dignified, but 
to be successful you must keep it dainty and restful. 

A bedroom should be light and cheerful by day and 
night. It must be well ventilated and have sufficient 
drawer and closet space. A medium-sized bedroom and an 
adjoining dressing room is the most comfortable arrange- 
ment but in this day of rented houses and apartments, 
where every inch of space must yield its return in dollars 
and cents, the dressing room may not be practical. 

8s 



The Hope Chest 



If necessary to make your bedroom light, introduce 
your own sunshine by adopting a yellow color scheme. 
One bride we know, with an abundance of good ideas but 
little cash, did this not only theoretically but literally. 
She was purchasing agent, seamstress and decorator. She 
painted the woodwork of her room an old ivory and chose 
a yellow flowered covering for the walls. This paper was 
designed after one of the quaint old chintzes of a few 
decades ago. She cut and sewed sufficient rags and dyed 
them a dull gray. These she had woven into a most 
durable rug. 

A Delightful Room 

She next purchased two plain white enameled beds, 
the kind that are known in the stores as maids' beds. At a 
second-hand shop she purchased a mission bureau with a 
square glass attached. This she removed. She also bought 
two small tables, one just large enough to hold a candle, 
clock and water bottle. The other was an oblong table 
with a drawer. A plain mission chiffonier was also secured 
at the same place. These, with two chairs, one straight- 
backed cane-seated chair and a willow, winged chair, 
completed the furniture for this delightful room. 

Gray-Painted Furniture 

She painted all the furniture a soft yellow gray, several 
tones lighter than the rug. The mirror, which she had 
removed from its permanent moorings, she hung above 
the dresser — flat against the wall. Another mirror was 
hung in the same way above the oblong dressing table. 

86 



Your Bedroom 



Yellow kiddie cloth was made into attractive bed 
spreads. It so closely resembled linen that you had to 
examine it to detect the difference. Her window drapes 
were fashioned from the same material. Both drapes and 
spreads were bordered in gray sateen to match the furni- 
ture. The glass curtains were of cream-colored net. On 
each window sill, in a gray flowerpot blossomed two 
cheerful little yellow primroses. 

The bride and her husband were delighted with what 
she had achieved, for she had created a room that sur- 
passed in beauty many that cost five times as much. 

When You Purchase a Bed 

A bed is a piece of furniture about which you build 
the scheme of your room. The old monstrosities of grand- 
mother's time have disappeared forever and the brass 
variety are fast following in their wake. The latter were 
clean and frequently built along good lines, but being 
brass they clashed with most color schemes. Now we have 
a revival of the colonial four-post beds. In a colonial 
environment one of these beds is most beautiful. 

Simple and Harmonious 

A simple enameled bed of pleasing tones is preferable 
to many more expensive varieties. There are also many 
beds on the market of simple straight lines made of wood. 
These can be painted to harmonize with any color scheme. 

While the design of the bed is of importance, the 
springs and mattress should be given due consideration. 
Good springs and mattress cost more than a few dollars, 

87 



The Hope Chest 



but they are worth every dollar they cost. If you must 
economize, do not begin with the mattress. A good hair- 
filled mattress will outwear many times the cotton-filled 
variety and will be proportionately more comfortable. 

Furniture You Must Have 

What a joy to be the possessor of a fine walnut highboy 
or a chest of drawers, surmounted with a gilt frame 
colonial mirror hung flat against the wall! Surely such 
pieces are worth waiting and searching for. If you do not 
have room for two such large pieces of furniture, select the 
highboy and with it a small dressing-table, or if you can 
only have one, of course it must be the chest of drawers or 
a bureau, as this offers the necessary drawer space and 
provides a mirror as well. 

A cheval-glass is a comfort but not a necessity. A large 
unframed mirror can be attached to a door and will prove 
just as useful. 

Two willow chairs, painted to match the woodwork 
of the room and curtained in gay chintz, will be sufficient, 
but a footstool will be an added comfort. 

Good Light Essential 

Place your bureau or dressing-table where it will have 
a good light both during the day and evening. If it stands 
between windows it will have ample light by day and two 
side lights of electricity should be placed so as to provide 
the necessary night light. 

Never keep an array of bottles and toilet articles on 
your dressing-table. Such personal display is always in 

88 



« 



Your Bedroom 



questionable taste. Lace pincushions belong to the past and 
elaborate toilet articles are not good form. A few flowers 
lend a touch of sentiment to a dressing-table. 

Avoid elaborate bed coverings. A simple white spread 
of linen or pique, folded trimly in at the sides and end of 
the bed, always is in good taste. Pillows look best in formal 
arrangement, under cover of the spread. 



89 



"The bearings of this observation lays in the afypfli- 
cation on it' 





CHAPTER VIII 

Make Your Home Shine 

TERNAL vigilance is the motto of the well-kept 
home, and really it is the easiest method to follow. 
Floors, rugs and windows, silver, brasses and glass, 
all are kept clean most easily by the everyday treatment. 
This is the modern method of housekeeping. Some sug- 
gestions for the extra cleaning storms that assail us ever 
and anon are also suggested in this chapter. 

If your floors are waxed, daily dusting with an unoiled 
mop should keep them in good condition. As they require 
it go over them with liquid wax. Scrubbing or washing 
will soon ruin the polished surface of any floor. If your 

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floors should become bluish-white around a radiator or 
under a flowerpot, rub them with a cloth dampened with 
weak ammonia water. If you use a broom in sweeping 
floors, a newspaper dampened and placed against the door 
while sweeping will prevent the dust flying into adjoining 
rooms. 

Use of Wax and Oil 

Your linoleum will require less water cleansing if it 
has a good surface coating of wax. Using an oiled mop on 
linoleum with a light ground will darken it, as the oil 
penetrates into the surface of the fabric. The efifective 
large block, black and white, or blue and white, linoleum 
that is being used so much for halls will soon lose its clear- 
ness if dusted with an oil mop. 

A woolen cloth dipped in linseed oil, then allowed to 
dry before using, will make an excellent duster for furni- 
ture. For real economy old stocking legs cut apart and 
sewed together to make a cloth of sufficient size will make 
a satisfactory duster. All left-overs, whether in the kitchen 
or all through the house, are grist to the mill of the 
economical housewife. 

Hints on Polishes 

To keep mahogany or any highly polished furniture 
in good condition, try this method : Pour a quantity of any 
good furniture polish into a glass jar, and immediately 
pour it out again. In the jar place a square of velveteen 
or chamois, and leave it two or three days. The material 
will absorb the residue of polish in the jar until it is im- 

94 



Make Your Home Shine 



pregnated. This polishing duster is then ready for use, 
and a rub-up with it is all that is necessary to keep the 
furniture in an excellent state of polish. This same duster 
can be used on the hard woodwork of the house. 

Oriental Rugs 

If you find the delicate tracery or soft coloring of your 
oriental rugs begins to have a dismal, drab look, it is time 
to have them cleaned. Steam cleaning spoils the rugs, so 
before you send them to a cleaner investigate his cleaning 
process. 

Nothing is better, either in his establishment or your 
own home, than an old fashioned hand scrub with soft 
water and pure soap. First remove every bit of dust possi- 
ble by the vacuum cleaner or broom. Then lay the rug on 
a table or floor and proceed to scrub. Use a rather soft 
brush and have a good lather but do not make the rug 
soaking wet. After this cleansing process go over the rug 
with a damp sponge dipped in warm, soft water. Repeat 
this again and again until all the dirty, soapy lather is 
removed from the rug. While damp brush the nap all one 
way to make it smooth. Hang out to dry and when dry lay 
on the floor and brush vigorously to bring up the pile and 
give a velvety finish. 

Electric Carpet Washer 

There is a rug and carpet washer on the market, oper- 
ated electrically, that cleans in much the same way as a 
vacuum only it is a wet process instead of dry cleaning. 

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A few years ago an electric vacuum cleaner was a 
luxury, now every up-to-date house or apartment has one. 
Think of the brides of the past — how, aproned, dust- 
capped and gloved, they followed the trail of the broom, 
and let one who knows tell you it was a weary one. Now, 
quietly and with all absence of effort, we run our vacuum 
with not a particle of dust in sight. 

Vacuum Cleaner a Necessity 
The cost of an electric vacuum may seem great, espe- 
cially when you want so many things, but take our advice 
and have a vacuum even if you have to have a musicless 
house for awhile. First, it will make you independent of 
servants and as you become more experienced in the art of 
housekeeping, you will realize what this means. Then it 
will conserve time, which is one of our most valuable pos- 
sessions, for your time will be full the first few months, and 
we might add years, with far more interesting things than 
sweeping. And a vacuum will conserve your strength and 
health. 

Work for Two Cents an Hour 

The first cost of a reliable vacuum cleaner may be said 
to be almost the last cost as far as repairs are concerned, 
for with care they are ever ready and it may be comforting 
to you to know that they do their work for about two cents 
an hour, unless your electric rate is exorbitant. Buy your 
vacuum cleaner when possible from a local dealer, so if 
anything should break or need repair, you can go right to 
him. Before you buy, have it understood that he is to be 
interested in fixing it. 

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Make Your Home Shine 



To give the best service, the dust container of your 
cleaner ought to be emptied after each cleaning, or at least 
very frequently. Accumulated dust in the container pre- 
vents the free circulation of air and interferes with the 
work of the vacuum. Don't forget to oil the machinery. 

Shining Silver 

Not nearly as much silver is bestowed on the brides of 
today as on the brides of former years, and yet you will 
surely have some silver vases, and candlesticks, and pos- 
sibly you have beautiful toilet silver, and the table silver 
we have always with us. 

The quickest, safest and easiest way to keep it clean is 
by electrolysis, and silver cleaned in this way keeps bright 
much longer. If your house is lighted by electricity your 
silver will not tarnish as quickly as if it is lighted by gas. 

Purchase one of the electrolytic silver-cleaning outfits. 
The Silver Clean-pan, Marvel, and Galvano have all been 
tested and approved, but there are many others on the mar- 
ket equally good. After immersing the silver in the pan the 
tarnish will have vanished, and a rubbing with a polishing 
cloth will rapidly restore its lustre. 

Make Your Glassware Sparkle 

Probably you will number among your wedding gifts 
some beautiful pieces of glass, which will require care to 
keep them clear and sparkling. 

The easiest and best way to clean glassware, especially 
the beautiful clear crystal, whose real beauty far surpasses 
the much-cut kind so popular a few years ago, is to wash it 

97 



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in warm water with a pure soap. Rinse in warm water and 
dry with a clean, lintless towel. If the glass be greasy, as a 
glass that has held milk or a glass bowl filled with ice 
cream, it should be rinsed in cold water before washing. 

If your cut glass needs a thorough washing, try this 
method: Wash in warm soapy water, brushing all the 
crevices with a soft brush, rinse, and lay in a bed of saw- 
dust to dry. This brushing will remove every bit of soil 
from the deep cuts. Should you not have sawdust, give 
it a thorough rubbing with soft crepe paper. Vigorous 
friction will enhance the beauty of the glass. 

Wisdom in the Laundry 

Housework cannot masquerade as a comedy, when it 
comes to laundry work. It is almost a weekly tragedy in 
many homes, but the pathos of it can be lightened if we lay 
aside our blundering and blindness and know the how and 
why of it. The easy way is to have a laundress come to 
your home, take away all soiled clothes, and bring them 
back all white and smooth and sweet-smelling. May you 
have it so! 

The Electric Washer 

If the weekly washing must be done at home, a labor- 
saving machine that really saves in work and time and 
money is the electric washer. It is a good investment. If 
you have an electric washer, the success of its work will be 
largely determined by the supplies you give it, so don't be 
sparing with soda and soap. Make a solution of one pound 
of washing soda in one gallon of hot water and put in your 

98 



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Make Your Home Shine 



washer one cup of this solution to each machine tub full 
of water and to this add your soap chips or shavings. Better 
results will follow soap that has been shaved, put in a quart 
of hot water and whipped to a froth before adding to the 
machine. The same suds can be used for hand laundry, but 
you will need to rub soap on the bands of collars, cuffs, 
and badly soiled portions of clothing. 

Rinse Your Clothes Well 

Thorough rinsing is as important as washing. Two 
waters at least are required. To the last water add a small 
amount of bluing. Outdoor drying is preferable except 
for white silk. If you make your starch with weak soap- 
suds, the clothes will not stick to the irons when ironing. 
Any pure white soap will do for this. 

Sprinkle clothes with warm water. There is a little 
device for sale to help you do this. It is a stopper, with 
small perforations, that fits over a bottle. Thus the water 
is evenly distributed. 

Hints on Ironing 

A smooth ironing board goes a long way towards help- 
ing your ironing to go smoothly. Be sure to starch well the 
top cover of your board, as this will prevent the clothes 
sticking to it. Cover the under side of the board heavily 
with Turkish towels, and when you have buttons to iron 
over or heavily embroidered pieces, simply turn over your 
board and the padding is ready. White stocking legs, 
whose feet are worn out, make fine padding for a sleeve 
board by just slipping the stocking legs over the board. 

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The Hope Chest 

This will do away with tacks, on which innumerable 
sleeves have been torn. 

An electric or gas iron is a really necessary equipment 
in every modern home. Rub irons with beeswax to remove 
any rust or starch. Very fine laces can be "ironed" best by 
wrapping them around a round glass bottle filled with hot 
water. The heat will help to dry them quickly. Stretch 
the lace very carefully to preserve the pattern. 

Some Laundering Hints 

To Wash Woolens. — Use warm water into which two tablespoon- 
fuls of powdered borax has been dissolved. Add a box of pure soap chips, 
dissolved. Put in woolens and rub lightly. Rinse three times in slightly 
soapy, warm water. Cold or very hot water will ruin woolens. Do not 
wring, but shake well and hang out to dry. This is an excellent way to 
wash blankets. All this work can be done best by a washer, but never 
use a wringer on woolens. Your soft, fluffy sweater will not lose its shape 
if you wash it thus, and then, without wringing, toss it into a pillow case 
and hang on a line in the fresh air to dr}% The "ironing" is done by taking 
it from the pillow case when dry and simply shaking. Closely knitted 
sweaters can be pressed by laying on a folded sheet on a table or floor, 
covering the carefully laid sweater with a damp Turkish towel, lapping 
over the towel the other part of the sheet, then placing a layer of books 
or magazines over it all. The weights will do the "ironing," and when 
the towel is dry the sweater will be smoothly pressed. 

Laundering Organdie. — If you dissolve a teaspoonful of gelatine in 
a quart of warm water and use this instead of starch when laundering 
organdie you will find it will retain its crispness. 

Laundering Pongee. — Maj^be it will help you to know when launder- 
ing pongee curtains or waists that they should be ironed while damp. They 
will spot if you let them dry and then sprinkle them to iron them. 

Laundering Curtains. — Always soak curtains over night in cold 
water, using a weak solution of washing soda and plenty of soap. The 

TOO 



Make Your Home Shine 



dirt will come out without any hard rubbing, which would injure the cur- 
tains. When starching add a teaspoonful of borax to each gallon of rinsing 
water. 

To Clean Veils. — If you dip your veils in alcohol when soiled they 
will come out like new. 

To Clean Kid Gloves. — Put on your gloves and wash, as though you 
were washing your hands, in a basin of gasoline. Never do this indoors, 
as it is dangerous. Gasoline is highly inflammable and it is always a risk 
to have it near a fire. Speaking of gasoline, if you are cleaning a spot off 
some fabric with gasoline, and there is danger that an ugly ring may 
remain when the gasoline has evaporated, you can avoid it by placing 
under the material several layers of blotting paper, or some absorbent 
cotton. 

To Restore Velvet. — Turn upside down a hot iron. Wet a cloth 
and stretch over it and over the wet cloth place a thin, dry one. For the 
thin cloth cheesecloth is the best material. Draw over these cloths the 
wrong side of the piece of velvet to be cleaned, brushing the velvet all the 
while with a soft brush. This will lift the pile of the velvet and remove 
creases. Dampen the wet cloth frequently so that plenty of steam will 
pass through the velvet. 

Chasing the Spots 
In the best of homes spots will happen, but whenever 
they happen here are some safe ways to take them out. A 
box or cabinet in your laundry containing cleaning cham- 
icals carefully labeled is well to keep always on hand. 
Have one quart jar filled with the following cleaning 
fluid, and simply marked 

Cleaning Fluid 
Y2 box of soap flakes dissolved in one quart of water 

1 teaspoonful of powdered borax 

2 tablespoonfuls of alcohol 

This is a cleaning fluid that is not inflammable and is 
easily prepared at home. This is excellent to clean the 



lOI 



The Hope Chest 



edges of blankets that are soiled and will remove grease 
spots from almost any fabric, but should not be used on 
velvet. Always use a pad of absorbent cotton under the 
spot to be cleaned to absorb the soil. 
Another reliable cleaning fluid is 

Javelle Water 
Y2 pound washing soda 
^ pound chloride of lime 

Put soda in an agate pan and pour over it a pint of 
boiling water. Put lime in an agate pan and pour over it 
a quart of cold water. Let stand over night and the next 
morning pour ofif the clear liquid of the lime solution into 
the soda solution. Bottle and keep in the dark. Be sure to 
label this bottle ''poison" and keep out of easy reach. 
Javelle water mixed with equal quantities of hot water 
will remove almost any stain from white cotton goods, but 
should never be used on silk or wool. 

For Ink Stains. — Place absorbent cotton or blotting paper under the 
spot immediately the stain happens and absorb all the ink possible. Salt 
and lemon will usually remove the remaining spot, but it may discolor 
the fabric, so first try cold water, changing the absorbent cotton which you 
have placed under the spot frequently. If the stain is on silk or wool, 
saturate the spot with spirits of turpentine. Pour on turpentine and 
change the pad often. Ink stains may be removed from wood floors by 
applying strong vinegar. 

To Remove Sewing Machine Oil. — There's a sure way and an easy 
way to get rid of a spot of sewing machine oil. Just take a blotting paper, 
lay the goods with the offending spot over it, drop a few drops of chloro- 
form on it, and watch it disappear, without leaving so much as a ring to 
show where it has been. 

For Blood Stains. — Apply dry powdered starch while the blood is 

102 



Make Your Home Shine 



still wet. If the blood has dried, and the fabric stained is white, apply 
ammonia. 

For Grease Spots on a White Fabric. — Stretch the fabric over a 
bowl; soap and pour boiling water through it. Continue pouring until 
the spot has disappeared. 

For Mildew on Linen. — Put a tablespoonful of Javelle water in 
a pint of water and dip the mildewed linen in the water. Very stubborn 
stains may require several dippings. 

For Iron Rust on Linen. — Cover the spot with salt, moisten with 
lemon juice and place in hot sun. Repeat if necessary. 

For Fruit Stains on Linen. — Place spot over a bowl and pour boiling 
water through the spot. Tea and coffee stains can usually be removed this 
way, if the stains are freshly made. If the stains have been in the mate- 
rial for some time, dip the linen in w^eak Javelle water and freeze thor- 
oughly. 

To Remove Paint. — Apply turpentine freely while paint is fresh. 

To Remove Tar. — Cover the spot with butter, let stand for three 
hours; then wash with soap and water. This is an old remedy but 
unfailing. 

To Remove Iodine. — With your medicine dropper, cover the spot 
with ammonia and rinse with clear water. 

A Few Vanishing Hints 

Vanish All Vegetable Stains. — It is a very good plan, 
before preparing vegetables or fruits that stain the hands, 
to rub the thumb and forefinger with olive oil or butter. 
This will prevent the unsightly stains which are difficult 
to remove. 

Vanish the Onion Smart. — Pare onions under water 
and you will never be troubled with smarting eyes. 

Vanish the Taste of Fish from Pans. — Put a teaspoon- 
ful of ammonia in a pan that has been used for cooking 

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The Hope Chest 



fish and let the ammonia remain in the pan a few minutes, 
then rinse in boiling water. The next food cooked in the 
same pan will never be suggestive of fish. 

Vanish the Stains from the Bathtub. — Almost a magi- 
cian for cleaning a bathtub is Javelle water. Apply it with 
a dish mop, rinse, and the stains will vanish and the enamel 
will not be injured. 

Vanish Paint on JVindow Panes. — Painters will splash 
the paint on the glass, but do not worry; apply hot vinegar 
to the paint and watch it vanish. 

Vanish Stains from Rolling Pin and Board. — If you 
want to keep them smooth and clean, rub them with a 
lemon cut in half, then rinse with clear water. 

Vanish the Hardest Part of Dishwashing. — Drop your 
pans used in cooking or baking into a dishpan full of hot 
water just as they are emptied. This will avoid the neces- 
sity of scraping them. 



T04 



"Each morning sees some task begin, 
Each evening sees it close; 
Something attempted, something done, 
Has earned a night s repose ' 





CHAPTER IX 

All Through the Year 

[HATEVER the cynics may have to say about it, keep 
up the high and holy days of your hearthstone. 
Two of these days will be only yours and your hus- 
band's. You can share your holiday merriment, your 
Thanksgiving feast, and your vacation rest or frolic, with 
friends if you choose, but your wedding anniversary is 
just between yourselves. And then there's another day — 
your engagement day. A wonderful way to observe it is 
to take the day of the month on which it falls and each 
month do something special on that day. A new book, a 
restaurant dinner, a box of candy, an evening at the theatre, 
or concert. You will find this one day will have many pos- 
sibilities. 



T07 



The Hope Chest 



Variety is the spice of flowers as well as of life. At the 
close of this chapter you will find a seasonable suggestion 
of the flowers for your home each month. Also we are 
suggesting a delectable culinary tidbit for each month. 
You may find it necessary to vary these recipes, but choose 
something you both like and will look forward to enjoying 
as the month comes around or neither of you will enjoy it 
as much. 

January Resolutions 

A New Year is rather awe-inspiring when it dawns. 
Do you ever make New Year resolutions? Faithfully kept 
they are vigorous will developers, but it means keeping 
on the firing line for three hundred and sixty-five days. 
Samples of the best resolutions to make might be: To 
make some shut-in's life cheerier by letters and gifts and 
love — To read a good book of biography each month — To 
use a soft, sweet voice, always. 

If your fingers are nimble with the needle for embroid- 
ery or sewing, this is a satisfying month to attend to un- 
derthings. The spring fashion commandments have not 
yet been issued for us to obey, but underwear does not 
usually make such startling departures as to make us 
unfashionable. Nothing in underwear could be more satis- 
factory than to buy the ready-made Philippine underwear, 
finished with a plain scallop, and embroider flowers or 
design on it to suit your fancy. 

February Holidays 

Whatever February lacks in length of days and 
weather, it atones for in holidays. If you have friends to 

io8 



All Through the Year 



entertain, prepare to do it now. You have the choice of 
three holidays — Lincoln's birthday, the twelfth — Saint 
Valentine's Day, the fourteenth — Washington's birthday, 
the twenty-second. It is always much easier to give an 
informal affair on some holiday. For a frolicsome party 
choose Saint Valentine's. Use hearts for Valentine, flags 
for Lincoln and Washington. 

// Charitably Inclined 

This month, if you are charitably inclined, you may 
put aside some of your own work, and do something for 
others. In many of the cities and towns the clubs and 
churches devote some time during this season to charitable 
work, so that many little children here and abroad are 
wearing garments made by the favored and fortunate. 

If you cannot hie away to the sunny South, you will 
find right at home that out-of-door winter sports supply 
vigorous and healthy pastime. Skating rivals dancing, and 
a vital interest in outdoor sports is everywhere growjng. 
If you are healthy, happy, and wise, you will be ready to 
go "over the hills and far away" for a cross-country walk, 
whenever your athletic husband asks you. The sturdy 
sports-clothes aid and abet the call of the big out-of-doors. 

March on with March 

Housekeeping goes marching along with rapid steps 
in this month, for there is much to do. If you have a lawn, 
and if you are not too far north, you can uncover the bulbs, 
fertilize the lawn, trim vines and shrubs, and plant the 

109 



The Hope Chest 



earliest seeds in cold frame or boxes. Get generally ready 
for spring's awakening. 

Spring Tonic in Fresh Air 

If you do not have an enclosed porch that you have had 
the pleasure of using all winter, you will find when it gets 
warm enough to live out of doors that it will be a great 
comfort to have slip covers ready for the porch chairs. 
Then you can dress them up and take your spring tonic of 
fresh air. There is nothing better to take — great, deep 
breaths of it. 

And new clothes! They are a magic spring tonic. It 
is well now to plan to get them ready, so that on the sunny 
spring days you can saunter out in them. You will enjoy 
them much more than if you wait for lazy summer weather 
to wear them. 

Time for a Frolic 

The festive day of March is the seventeenth. Saint 
Patrick's Day. It is a time for a frolic, or for giving a 
luncheon. The green color scheme is always attractive and 
the stores furnish many helpful decorations and bonbons. 
Most of all, don't forget to kiss the Blarney stone yourself 
that day. If you go downtown, be a bright face in the 
crowd, show a bit of courtesy to a salesgirl, give some 
words to your chauffeur and maid, if you are fortunate 
enough to have them. They may not deserve it, but that 
word may help them to deserve it in the future. Begin 
with the postman. Knit all the hours of the day together 

no 



All Through the Year 



with an unbroken thread of confidence and courtesy. This 
is a wonderful way to keep Saint Patrick's day. 

April in the Garden 

There's a woman among our friends who each April 
fool's day plays a little joke on her husband. They have 
been married twenty-three years. Last year, after a good 
hearty laugh over how he had been caught again, he made 
this remark, "Sally sweet, you're the same little girl to me 
you were twenty-three years ago." It's worth keeping up 
the frivolities of our 'teens to have a man say that, isn't it? 

This is the month to do real gardening — flower and 
vegetable. Dig the ground, plant the seeds and transplant 
seedlings. The day of violent house cleanings is past. The 
modern housekeeper has kept her house so clean all 
through the year with the vacuum cleaner and the regular 
weekly cleanings, that the semi-yearly cleaning panics are 
largely avoided. Furnace and cellar are the first places to 
begin cleaning. Wash all blankets and if you take care of 
your own furs, brush them again and again and again, and 
put them away before the moth flies get near them. Do all 
this work with all possible speed, so that you can enjoy the 
sunshiny days, for folks need sunshine as well as flowers. 

May, the Happy Month 

Washing your face in the morning dew on May morn- 
ings may not make you as beautiful as the legends tell you 
it will, but living out of doors in this wonderful month of 
May will help to make you healthy, happy and gay, and 
these are all first aids to beauty. 

Ill 



The Hope Chest 



Live out of doors as much as possible. Give the breezes 
the right of way to sweep through the house. All heavy 
rugs and draperies should be removed, carefully dusted 
and rolled up for fall service. If you care for your own 
rugs during the summer, see to it that they are wrapped in 
tar paper and plentifully sprinkled with camphor or moth 
powder. Bare floors with a few rag rugs or rugs of clear 
flax thrown around will achieve coolness in a most eco- 
nomical way. All heavy curtains will be laid aside and 
simple summery ones substituted. 

Plans for Your Friends 

When the house is all dressed up in its summer slip 
covers and cushions, and before any summer dirt gets into 
them, or the summer suns have faded them, it is a splendid 
time to entertain friends. If you live in the country, your 
grounds are at their prettiest. If you are not too far north, 
it is the time of blossoming fruit trees. Luncheons served 
on a porch, with its wicker furniture and rush grass floor 
mats, are especially appetizing. If you have such a porch, 
serve your breakfast on it. Why should we keep our best 
just for company? There is no other time of the day so 
delightful in this delightful month as the early morning 
hours. 

This is your busiest month in your garden, for it is the 
month of sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings. 

June's Perfect Days 

One might consistently wish it were always June — 
month of perfect days, diplomas and wedding bells. Keep 

112 



All Through the Year 



open house. It will be a housewifely triumph for you if as 
far as possible you keep house out of doors. Some of the 
best things slip from us if we do not watch. This is one of 
the months when we sigh with regrets for the apartment- 
house bride, who lives upstairs and indoors. But the com- 
forts of the winter months help to reconcile for summer 
losses. 

Summer Frocks Appear 

Perhaps you are a June bride and are celebrating your 
anniversary ; anyway you will be wearing your smart sum- 
mer frocks and going to see some of your best friends 
married, and helping to make merry with the graduation 
and alumni festivities. Between times, if you are to pre- 
serve some of the berries that are most delicious for winter 
use, you will have to be about it this month, for in June the 
canning season opens. If you have a garden and are thrifty, 
you can have strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus, and peas 
in your pantry for next winter by storing them now. If you 
can, use the cold-pack method, which is simple and pre- 
serves more nearly than any other the form and flavor of 
the fruit. Whether you can or not, reduce your summer 
meat bill and improve your digestion by feeding yourselves 
on the fresh vegetables from garden or market. 

If you own a garden, fight the pests this month, and 
spray and weed. Some one tells us that "June weeding 
brings July peace and August plenty." 

Fly Your Flag! 
A necessary equipment of every American household 
is a national flag. Hang out your flag on the Fourth of 

"3 



The Hope Chest 

July, and show your loyalty to the Stars and Stripes. 
During this month read magazines and some frivolous 
books of humor, and if accustomed to hard mental work, 
make it a month of mental vacation. 

The Spirit of 1776 

Housekeeping for July requires some of the spirit of 
1776. If one is to bob up calm and unwearied in the 
evening, one will need to dispense with unnecessary work. 
More simple salads and fresh fruits, and even puddings 
and pies, will mean more rest for you and give a needed 
change from the winter menu. The berries are with us 
this month and delicious jellies and jams can be made from 
currants, raspberries, and gooseberries. In the garden, 
peas, string beans, and tomatoes are at their best and are 
easy to prepare. 

If your husband is not averse, take a dinner out one 
night a week — maybe a picnic dinner out under the trees, 
with some delicious sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and 
fruit. If you have a car and cannot get away for long trips, 
make the most of the short ones for this month. 

August for Vacations 

We take it for granted that August will be your vaca- 
tion month. If you live in a sleepy little town, go to a 
madly rushing city, or if you live in this kind of a city, 
then away you go to the woods. Sometimes new scenes and 
excitement are as necessary as rest. A farmer's wife will 
get as much from a winter trip to the city as any cooped-up 
city maid can ever receive from a month in the country. 

114 



All Through the Year 



It's the variety that is the spice of any vacation. Any vaca- 
tion, spent anyw^here, from which you do not come back 
refreshed physically and mentally is a failure. 

Barring your husband, it is never wise to take your 
vacation with the people you live with all year. There is 
a tonic in a new voice, as well as in new scenes. Sweep 
away as far as possible all turmoil of servants, and anxiety 
of menus, and court delights and illusions. Mentally lock 
up your house and throw away the key. Forget business 
plans and home duties all the time you are away. 

September Duties 

In whatever devious paths your footsteps may have 
roamed this summer, there is a sort of coming-home- 
and-preparedness feeling in the air of September. There 
usually are some warm days lagging along in this month, 
so it is better to use the morning hours for the work that 
is calling. If your preserve closet has rows of delectable 
jellies and jams, look them over and see if there is any 
mold about the tops of the glasses. If so wipe it off care- 
fully with a damp cloth and cover with new parafhn. Some 
more cans of beans and corn and tomatoes can be added to 
your pantry this month, and peaches, probably the most 
popular of all canned fruits, are most plentiful now. 

Look to Your House 

Study your house and wardrobe this month. If you 
are living up to the requirements of a good homemaker 
your house calls for its share of attention. If you are paint- 
ing or papering, this is a good time to attend to it. Curtains 

115 



The Hope Chest 



are to be mended, possibly, broken or chipped china to be 
replaced, cushions and table runners to be freshened, and a 
general preparedness for home comfort undertaken. 

If your income is limited, take some time this month 
to go over your last winter's wardrobe, take account of stock 
on hand and see what you will need. A well-tailored suit 
worn at the neck and sleeves may be transformed into an al- 
most new one by a handsome fur collar and cuff set. Or vice 
versa, you may find some fur among your possessions that 
can be made into a handsome set for a new suit. A capacity 
for taking pains in selection of clothes is usually rewarded 
by having clothes of distinction amid the many and varied 
styles presented. 

October Vegetables 

Use fresh vegetables lavishly this month, as it is the last 
month that you can hope to have them fresh from the gar- 
den. If you have a garden, your work this month will be 
storing your garden vegetables. Sweet potatoes and pump- 
kins will want a warm resting place, onions a cool, dry 
place, beets, carrots and turnips demand a cool, damp 
place. Potatoes are satisfied with an ordinary cellar bin. 
The apartment bride is spared all these storage rules, as 
she necessarily buys in small quantities. 

Jolly, Happy Days 

The holiday of the month is Hallowe'en, jolly, happy, 
and packed with fun and merriment. There are two attrac- 
tive touches in a home that we will appreciate most this 
month — the glowing fire on the hearth, and the soft candle- 

ii6 



All Through the Year 



light on our tables. May you have both. This month the 
church, club, and social activities will start. 

Conserve Your Energies 

When the Scotch plaid days of autumn come our en- 
thusiasm is usually at high tide, and as a result we are apt 
to attempt much more than we can possibly do well. It is 
easy to say "yes" when we are invited to serve on a com- 
mittee, or be a hostess at a tea. At the time it means only 
one more thing, but we must consider what an accumula- 
tion of these things leads to. The result comes in the late 
winter, and takes the form of shattered nerves or a neg- 
lected home, and either is bad. Better discriminate, and 
choose wisely and well between the things you want to do 
and the things you are asked to do, and you will not have 
to reap a harvest of regrets. 

November — and Thanksgiving 

November brings us Thanksgiving Day — a day that 
ought to abide with us. However the other festive days of 
the year are kept, Thanksgiving Day ought to be observed 
in the good old conservative way. It is preeminently a 
day for the gathering of the family clans. For all-around 
happiness you may have to divide your holidays, spending 
some with your old and some with your newly acquired 
relations. 

Love's labor is rarely lost when you are fashioning 
Christmas gifts, and this is the month, if you have not 
already been working upon them, to begin your Christmas 
preparations. There are always some gifts, pleasing and 

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useful, that can be economically made at home. It is yours 
to decide whether to give your time and work, or to give 
the shopkeepers your extra money, but you will have a 
merrier Christmas if you meet it prepared. A kindly con- 
sideration for others suggests that you do your Christmas 
shopping early. 

Let the glorious Indian summer days call you into the 
open. Do this whether you live in a drowsy little town or a 
busy, bustling city. 

December, Gayest Month 

Whatever your preparedness, you will generally find 
December the busiest and gayest month of all the year. If 
you are domestic, you will want to bake your own fruit 
cakes and plum puddings. It is hard to resist the tempta- 
tion to send you some fine tested recipes, but this is not a 
cook book, and most of the reliable cook books on the 
market can furnish you with excellent recipes. Talking 
about baking cakes, let us suggest that there is no more 
delightful custom than the old country-side idea of giving 
to each other a basket of Christmas cakes. An attractive 
basket, heaped with delectable cakes and bonbons and 
glace nuts and fruits, with a personal greeting card, and all 
made festive looking with ribbons and holly, is an appro- 
priate present for near-by or far-away friends. 

Decorate the Home 

Some time must be saved to decorate your home. Holly 
wreaths and greens there must be, even if you have to go 
to the woods to gather them. You will want some mistletoe. 

Glace fruit and nuts are delicious and so easily made, 

ii8 



All Through the Year 



so why not make them yourself? If you don't need to save 
money, do it anyhow and use the extra money to make 
merry somebody's Christmas that you are sure cannot 
afiford to give a gift in return. If you use this recipe for 
the glace nuts and fruits, you may be sure of success. 

Recipe 
3 cups of sugar 
1 5^2 cups of boiling water 
^ teaspoonful of cream of tartar 

Put ingredients in a saucepan, stir and place on range and heat to 
boiling point. Boil without stirring to 310° F. Do not let burn on sides 
of pan. Remove the pan from the fire, and place pan in a larger pan of 
cold water. Take fruit or nuts, one at a time, dip in syrup, and place on a 
slightly oiled tin or marble. Dates and figs may be left whole or stuffed 
before dipping. All kinds of nuts may be used. 

Suggested Monthly Recipes 

The following recipes are like old friends, tried and 
true: 

JANUARY 

MACAROON CUSTARD 

I pint of milk 

Yolks of four eggs 

J4 cupful of sugar 

54 teaspoonful of salt 
I cupful of stale almond macaroons 
3 tablespoonfuls of pineapple and chopped dates 

Scald the milk in a double boiler. Beat the eggs with the sugar and 
salt. Over the egg yolks pour gradually the hot milk. Return to the 
double boiler and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from 
the fire and stir in the macaroons, pineapple and dates. Beat hard, chill, 
and serve in glasses topped with whipped cream. 

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FEBRUARY 

CHICKEN CHARLEROI 

i/^ cupfuls of cooked diced chicken 
I cupful of cooked diced ham 
I cup of mushrooms (cooked separately) 

1 cup of asparagus tips 

2 cups of thin cream sauce 

Saute the mushrooms in two tablespoonfuls of butter, add sauce, 
heat, and add the chicken and ham. Serve with hot buttered tips on each 
plate. 

MARCH 

BATTER PUDDING 

Sift together one and one-half cups of flour, two scant teaspoonfuls 
of baking powder, and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Beat four eggs 
well, add one pint of milk, and mix well with sifted flour. Add stiffly 
beaten whites of eggs, and bake in a hot oven. Serve promptly when done. 
Cream four tablespoonfuls of butter, add one cup of powdered sugar and 
one egg yolk. Beat in half a cup of raisins, maraschino cherries and nuts. 
Chill well. Add one cup of whipped cream and serve as sauce for the 
pudding. 

APRIL 

GOLDEN FLUFF CAKE 

Whites of seven eggs ^ cup of flour 
Yolks of five eggs Y2 teaspoonful of cream of tartar 

I cup of pulverized sugar A pinch of salt 

Sift flour and sugar repeatedly. Beat yolks of eggs thoroughly. Beat 
whites, then add cream of tartar, and beat very stiff. Stir in sugar, add 
beaten yolks and flour. Flavor with almond and a little nutmeg. 

MAY 

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE 

15^ cups of flour 2 eggs 

4 tablespoonfuls of sugar 3^ cup of milk 

2 tablespoonfuls of butter ^ teaspoonful of salt 

2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 

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All Through the Year 



Sift dry ingredients together, and rub in butter as in preparing pie 
crust. Add milk and eggs. Roll and bake in layer cake pans. This 
makes a very soft dough, so do not be surprised at its appearance. Cover 
each layer with crushed strawberries (sugared) and whipped cream. 

JUNE 

CHERRY TARTS 

1 cupful of flour 3 tablespoonfuls of ice water 
j/2 teaspoonful of salt 4 tablespoonfuls of butter 

2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 

Sift the dry ingredients together. Rub in butter with finger tips. 
Add water, and roll out dough very thin on a floured board. Line patty 
pans, and bake about twelve minutes. Fill baked shells with pitted cher- 
ries, sweetened. Cover with ice cream and serve. 

JULY 

FRUIT FRAPPE 

Boil one pound of sugar with one pint of water, and add to this syrup 
the shaved rind of one orange and lemon. Add one grated pineapple, 
two cups of orange juice, and one-half cup of lemon juice. Pour one cup 
of boiling water over one teaspoonful of tea. Stir all together, strain, and 
freeze. Serve with whipped cream. 

AUGUST 

FROSTED CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE 

Make chocolate or coffee, fill a glass one-third full of cracked ice, 
and pour over this the chocolate or coffee. Heap on top plenty of whipped 
cream. Either of these cool drinks is a delicious variation from the cus- 
tomary iced tea. 

SEPTEMBER 

PINEAPPLE FRITTERS 

1 cup of flour 54 teaspoonful of salt 

^ cup of milk 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 

2 eggs I tablespoonful of sugar 
I tablespoonful of baking powder 10 slices of pineapple 

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Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add milk, well-beaten eggs, and butter. 
Prepare the pineapple and dip in batter, and fry in deep hot lard or oil. 
Drain on paper and dust with sugar. 

OCTOBER 

CHEESE AND CORN SOUFFLE 

I tablespoonful of butter 2 cups of milk 

14 cup of flour I cup of corn ' 

y2 chopped green pepper i cup of grated cheese 
1/2 teaspoonful of salt Paprika 

3 eggs 

Brown the green pepper in butter, add flour, then the milk grad- 
ually, stirring continuously, cheese, corn, beaten egg yolks, and seasoning. 
Fold in stiffly beaten whites, turn into a buttered baking dish, and bake 
in a moderate oven thirty minutes. 

NOVEMBER 

BARBECUED HAM 

Use cold boiled ham sliced moderately thick. Spread both sides of 
each slice with mixed mustard. Heat butter in pan and put in slices of 
ham. Turn frequently until browned, add two tablespoonfuls of cider 
vinegar, let boil up and serve with apple rings, cooked in syrup of sugar 
and water until clear. 

DECEMBER 

WHITE FRUIT CAKE 

1 cup of butter 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 

2 cups of sugar ^ pound of citron, cut fine 

3 cups of flour y2 pound of chopped almonds 
Whites of eight eggs i cup of grated coconut 

Yz wine glass of orange juice ]/2 cup of dates, raisins and currants 

Beat butter to a cream and gradually beat in the sugar, add orange 
juice. Beat the eggs to a stiff froth and stir into the butter and sugar. 
Add baking powder and flour thoroughly mixed, and lastly the fruit and 
nuts. Bake in two loaves in moderate oven, forty minutes. 

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All Through the Year 



Monthly Flowers 

January — Why not geranium? They are friendly, cheerful and 
abundant at this season of the year. Changing from scarlet to pink will 
give you variety of color. 

February — Dainty Primula Obconica (baby primrose) will be 
beautiful for this month. It is plentiful and inexpensive, and a dozen 
sprays will be all you will need. Vary your decoration the last two weeks 
of the month by using Roman hyacinths. 

March — For the next eight weeks bulbous stock will be on the 
market, so make your selections from daffodils and tulips. The soft gray 
pussy willows are suggestive of the bluebirds and blend well with the 
gold of the daffodils. 

April — Depend on Mother Nature for your decoration for this 
month. Go to the woods and dig up a clump of violets, plant them in a 
low glass or pottery dish, and you will have a bouquet your florist cannot 
rival. 

May — Nothing more beautiful for May than apple blossoms and 
lilacs. 

June — Roses for June, of course. 

July — Let your garden furnish your flowers for this month. There 
are myriads to select from — larkspur and snapdragons and daisies. 

August — Depend on the meadow lands for your decorations for 
this month. Here you will find the lovely, lacy wild carrots, and the big 
brown-eyed yellow daisies. And don't forget the beauty of the red clover. 

September — Let asters and zinnias divide the honors of your table 
for September. Asters, both cultivated and wild, are now at their best. 
Along almost any country roadside the wild ones may be found, and they 
have wonderful decorative possibilities. 

October — Chrysanthemums from your garden — what could be 
lovelier ? 

November — Go to the woods, deep into the silent places, and hunt 
down under the leaves for the scarlet partridge berries. They usually 



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take kindly to a new environment, and will grow as will the violets in a 
glass dish. Then go a-berrying, not for berries to eat but for berries to 
look at. The blue berries of the Virginia creeper and the white snow 
berries make a pretty combination. And the seeds of the dog\vood, and the 
spiked branches of the barberry, are gorgeous at this season. 

December — ^A bowl of bright-berried holly and cone-laden branches 
of evergreen for your table the first part of the month, but when Christ- 
mas comes be extravagant and buy some poinsettias. 



124 



"Buy what ye dinna want and ye it sell what ye 
canna spare" 



tummnrfma 





CHAPTER X 

Shopping for the House 

F YOU are a careful dresser, you study your face and 
features and coloring. Beauty is harmony. This is 

M as true of the house as of the mistress. Persian rugs 
with painted furniture — never! Mahogany furniture on 
a matting — parbleul If you are wealthy, you may visit 
the exclusive specialty shops with their mirror-lined walls 
and their casement windows, or, if you are counting your 
pennies, you may be haunting subway stores, but wherever 
you buy, remember that price is not necessarily a criterion 
of value. You can furnish a house poorly on a lot of money 
and furnish it well on a little. 

There are a few things for the house for which every 
practical homemaker is longing. Some things have such 

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lasting beauty that we love them always, while others hold 
only an evanescent favor. It is this last that is the expen- 
sive article, whatever its first cost may be. A picture that 
has a vista of beauty that inspires or rests you, a piece of 
furniture that you can absolutely trust to grow in favor, a 
rug whose color blending suggests a Gobelin tapestry, a 
pair of brass andirons that make you not care a rap how 
low the temperature drops while they can hold the blazing 
logs, a rare piece of embroidered linen — none of these 
worth-while treasures is expensive, whatever its first cost, 
for such will be a joy-forever purchase. This kind of buy- 
ing represents what in the long run might be called smart 
economy. 

Buy with Good Judgment 

If ever by some unforeseen good fortune an avalanche 
of dollars sweeps into your purse and you are attacked by 
the spending fever, stay at home. 

Buying anything, from hats to houses, to outshine a 
neighbor or friend, is playing a comedy for other folks* 
fun and your own sorrow. It is well to always consider the 
quality of the goods with equal carefulness as the price tag 
attached. At certain seasons almost all stores have special 
sales, and often ofifer worth-while goods at cost prices. 
Certain goods do not depreciate in value, and often it is 
good judgment to lay in a supply at these sales. It saves 
time and money to buy soap by the box, towels by the 
dozen, and many such standard needful articles. Study 
the advertisements for the latest improvements in house- 
hold economies. 

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Shopping for the House 



Indoor Window Boxes 

Meaningless taborets and multi-colored jardinieres 
have little favor with the interior decorator. The shops 
realize this and are now offering unusually attractive 
indoor window boxes. Possibly you will number one of 
these among your wedding gifts; if you are not so fortu- 
nate, purchase one. They have been designed with suffi- 
cient space to hold the pots. This makes it easier to care 
for your plants than if you had them planted in the box 
itself, because when you water them you can lift each one 
separately and carry it to the bath or laundry tub, and 
thus avoid spilling water on the floor. A mass of green is 
always more attractive than three or more plants dotted 
here and there about the room. 

A Design in Willow 

There are two of these boxes that are unusually attrac- 
tive. One design is in willow, which can be painted to har- 
monize with the woodwork of your room. Such a box be- 
ing light in weight can be easily lifted. It will make a 
happy addition to your porch in summer, or your living 
room in winter. The second type of window box is made 
of cement, designed along classic lines and is worthy a 
place in any living room. This box has a permanent air 
about it that, combined with its beauty of lines, makes it 
worth what the merchants ask for it. 

Curtains 

If your income is limited, buy the same kind of curtains 
for all over the house. Besides being in good taste, you can 

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purchase the material for them by the bolt, which will be 
a saving, and as some curtains wear out sooner than others, 
the best ones can be used together and thus will give extra 
years of service. Net, voile, and cotton etamine all will 
wear well, and also will sustain a reputation, which we 
hope you have or are acquiring, for good taste. 

Beautiful silk curtains often can be purchased at the 
dress-silk counters from some shade that was not a good 
seller as a dress goods, but that would make attractive in- 
side curtains. Tan or old blue shades, to go with mahogany 
furniture, or yellow to accompany ivory tinted woodwork 
and furniture, are often found at a silk sale. 

Interior Door Knockers 
Not the cold, shiny brass knockers that follow classic 
lines — the kind we hope you have on your front door — 
but the wee posey-covered iron variety, whose basic origin 
has been completely hidden 'neath a coat of many colored 
paints. One of these knockers, which costs very little, will 
be just what you want for the door of your guest room and 
will be one of the things that will make your home a bit 
different. 

Porcelains 

From even a few well-chosen porcelains we may study 
the Chinese dynasties. However we may feel about the 
Chinaman and his pigtail, we feel a reverence for his pot- 
ter's art. Sea-green celadons and deep lustrous red are 
products of the furnaces of the past. A truly fine piece of 
porcelain is among the most beautiful of all art objects. 
Its color rivals that of precious stones and its grace of out- 

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Shopping for the House 



line is superb. Even the fragility makes an appeal. The 
porcelains produced today may not be compared with 
those produced in the past. The secret of their matchless 
glazes has been lost. 

Six Fundamental Colors 

If you are only learning to care for Oriental jars and 
bottles, try to understand their symbolism. These ancient 
potters used six fundamental colors. These were symbolic 
of water, fire, metal, w^ood, earth and sky. Red they asso- 
ciated with fire, black with water, green was suggestive of 
the woodlands, white of metal, yellow bespoke the earth, 
and blue the firmament. This they must have loved best, 
for never has a blue in any form of art been so enchanting 
as that we find in some of the early ceramics. When we 
look at some of these jars we almost expect to see them en- 
veloped in a bit of cumulous cloud. 

Treasures rarely come to your first home, but later in 
life, when you have passed the period of mere essentials, 
then may the treasures come. Possibly only one or two, but 
may they bring pleasure to all who behold them, and deep 
joy to you. 

Candles 

"Hail candle light. Without disparagement to sun or moon, the 
kindliest luminary of the three." — Essays of Elia. 

Even though we possess electricity and acknowledge 
its convenience and efficiency, our houses require candles 
just as they did in the days of our grandmothers. When we 
are few and we sit together for a little talk, the flickering 
flames of the logs and a few candles will provide an ample 

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glow. At such a time you will be glad you have a torcher 
to shed light in some distant corner where the fire-light re- 
fuses to penetrate. Such a torcher may be a polychrome 
candlestick, whose substantial base stands on the floor, or 
a metal base of graceful line whose stem branches at the 
top and supplies the holders for one or many candles. A 
torcher will supply sufficient light for a hall or stair-land- 
ing and will adorn either place with its quaint beauty. 



132 



"Every path hath a puddle" 





CHAPTER XI 

When Emergency Comes 

OME DAY^ sooner or later, it will happen. It may 
cause merely a ripple in your existence, or it may 
change your entire future. Have you the poise nec- 
essary to face the situation? 

The unexpected may be a message from afar, necessi- 
tating a journey; it may be loss of money, reduction of in- 
come, or the abrupt ending of all income ; it may be an acci- 
dent, or a fire, or sudden illness. 

Will you be equal to the emergency? Have you the 
wisdom to look ahead and plan clearly? Or will you meet 
the situation with a case of "nerves" that will only add to 
the dilemma? 

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The Hope Chest 

Of course, you will have to take time to reason and 
plan, but you may have to do both quickly. Above all, do 
the thinking first. When you do act, keep right on until 
you have conquered. 

When Income Dwindles 

Every married couple naturally begins to plan for the 
future, fair or stormy, on their wedding day. Usually no 
storm comes more rapidly than a financial one, and if it 
comes to you it is then you are going to be tested by your 
sacrificial courage. Your husband will never love you 
more, or need you more truly, than when he tells you that 
the firm with which he has been connected must curtail 
expenses and that he has been dropped from the payroll. 
Of course, you may have misgivings, but try to keep them 
fast within the recesses of your own mind and plan, plan, 
plan. Be practical. Get out your budget and go over it 
carefully. Look over all the expenditures and cut out what 
are unnecessary. Cultivate your resourcefulness. You will 
be surprised at the things you will be able to accomplish 
and at the joy of achievement. For instance, instead of an 
expensive restaurant dinner, substitute a more simple 
pleasure. Pack up a few sandwiches and take a hike into 
the country, into some distant woodland. You will return 
refreshed and ready for a greater effort to turn the tide of 
your fortune. 

Make Fortune of Necessity 

If you have a servant, dismiss her, or send to the woman 
who washes and sweeps for you a note telling her to post- 
136 



When Emergency Comes 



pone her weekly visits until she hears from you. A little 
extra work will be a pleasure, when you know it is saving 
the fast-disappearing bank account. 

Should payments on the new home fall due and the 
wherewithal to meet them not be forthcoming, be brave 
and place a ''For Rent" sign on your garden gate, and 
move to a smaller, less pretentious house. Home is where 
the heart is, irrespective of size or location. 

It was no mathematical calculation that brought you 
to this unexpected tragedy, but it is a great time to rivet 
your comradeship. Can your husband depend on you? 

The Sudden Trip 

A telegram — an hour to catch a tram, or a delay of 
twelve hours! 

This is not an exaggeration; it is frequently a startling 
fact. Such a call means packing a bag — a change of cloth- 
ing — securing necessary money — some telephoning and 
time consumed in reaching the station. 

Much time can be saved by keeping an emergency bag 
ready. In this bag should be the necessary toilet articles, 
a small bottle of aromatic ammonia, some postal cards, a 
sharpened pencil and a telegraph blank — which you can 
fill out and have ready to send when you arrive at the sta- 
tion. This will be a time when every minute will count. 

The Ever-Ready Bag 

Also this bag will be useful when your husband sud- 
denly decides to make a flying business trip and wants you 
to accompany him. With such a bag you can be ready in a 

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few minutes, and probably you have learned ere this that 
men are impatient creatures and do protest at being kept 
waiting. Anyway, you will get many more trips by being 
always ready. 

Unexpected Guests 

A whole half-dozen guests, all unbidden, but welcome! 

You know when we are silly enough to have our for- 
tunes told there are always three piles of cards : those we 
do expect, those we don't expect, and those the seer assures 
us are sure to come true. In this last pile can be placed the 
unexpected guest. 

To make a guest happy the Chinese tell us, "be polite, 
smile, and feed him." Of course, you are the first, 
and you can easily do the second, and the third will 
take care of itself if you will plan ahead. Have one 
shelf in your pantry for emergencies, and on this shelf 
keep two cans of soup, from a reliable firm (first course 
of a luncheon or dinner) , two cans of boned chicken (glass 
cans, if possible). Thus you have the possibilities of 
soup, creamed chicken, chicken salad, or chicken on toast. 

Sandwich Suggestions 

For sandwiches, should guests drop in on a wintry 
afternoon, hungry and cold from a skating party, you will 
want a jar of olive meat, a package of snappy cheese, some 
reliable nut-butter, a box of mint wafers, a box of Ameri- 
can crackers and some other variety, which to our English 
cousins are known as biscuits. 

It is not necessary for us to suggest a supply of lettuce 
in your ice-box, as in this day and generation we all keep 

138 



When Emergency Comes 



lettuce on hand. Canned milk is always included in the 
emergency plan, and you need lemons for tea or fish. 

Your preserve closet will supply the marmalade for 
sandwiches. A bottle of maraschino cherries will be attrac- 
tive for sundaes or grapefruit. With such a shelf you can 
greet your guests smilingly, knowing that all will be well, 
and that you can soon banish all pangs of hunger or thirst. 

An Emergency Closet 

Accidents come when we least expect them. If you 
have an emergency closet, the accident will not catch you 
wholly unprepared. Arrange a closet in some convenient 
place that is light and free from dust. Place there all the 
equipment necessary for first aid work. The following ar- 
ticles will be sufficient: Three Red Cross bandages of dif- 
ferent widths (^ in., 1^/2 in., and 3 in., are the usual 
widths required), a half pound roll of absorbent cotton, 
one large white agate basin, assorted safety pins, one small 
agate tray (to be used by the physician to sterilize his 
instruments), a cake of pure soap, and a new hand brush, 
(to be used to scrub the hands of the one making the dress- 
ings). Have three one-ounce bottles labeled and filled, 
one with iodine, one with carron oil, and one with aro- 
matic spirits of ammonia. 

For Emergency Calls 

On the inside of the closet door place the name, address, 
and 'phone number of your family physician, also the 
name and address of another physician, should your own 
physician be unobtainable. Also have on the door the 

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'phone number of your husband and any other person you 
could depend upon in an emergency. 

Paint a small red cross on the door of this closet and 
under the cross paint the words "Emergency Closet." You 
will never regret the space devoted to such an equipment, 
for while you may never need it, it is one thing that if you 
do need, you need it truly. 

The Wrong Medicine 

We hope you won't, but you may some day take the 
wrong medicine; so be prepared. Paste these directions in 
your emergency closet: 

First, 'phone for your physician. 

In every case administer an emetic at once. An emetic 
is any substance that will cause vomiting. This will fre- 
quently remove the poison from the stomach before it has 
been absorbed and may save a serious or perhaps fatal re- 
sult. The most reliable and ever-handy emetic is a glass 
of quite warm water in which has been dissolved a table- 
spoonful of mustard. If there is no immediate result, give 
a second dose. Insist on glass after glass being swallowed 
until it has accomplished its work. 

Should the person have taken an acid and vomited, 
give the beaten whites of eggs and warm cream or milk. 
If you cannot get this quickly, use melted lard or butter. 
This will help to prevent the acid from injuring the lining 
of the stomach. 

If ammonia or caustic soda has been swallowed, give 
lemon juice in water or vinegar. Afterward plenty of milk 
and eggs or olive oil. 

140 



When Emergency Comes 



For carbolic acid, use flour and water or one ounce of 
Epsom salts. In case of collapse, apply heat to the body. 

For belladonna, give a tablespoonful of mustard and 
salt in warm water ; stimulants, if required. 

For acetanilid or phenacetin (nearly all headache 
remedies come under this head), lower head, apply heat 
to body and give strong, hot cofTfee or other stimulant. 

The physician will administer the proper antidote on 
his arrival, but its success will largely depend on your first 
aid work. 

Keep poison under lock and key. 

For Burns and Scalds 
For minor burns and scalds there is nothing better than 
an immediate application of carron oil (linseed oil and 
lime water). Saturate a piece of gauze and lay it over the 
wound. Always keep in your emergency closet this most 
efficacious of all remedies for burns. If the injury covers 
a large area, summon a physician at once, but in the mean- 
time pour carron oil over the wound. The physician may 
change your dressing, but the oil will have relieved the 
pain to a great extent. 

For Cuts and Scratches 
Should a knife slip while attending to some simple 
household duty, instantly hie you to the iodine bottle and 
pour a drop or two into the incision. It may hurt a bit for 
an instant, but it may prevent weeks of suffering from an 
infected finger. The same treatment will be necessary 
should you scratch yourself when opening a tin can, or in- 
jure your foot by stepping on a nail. These are often mere 

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The Hope Chest 



little details of a morning's work, but they may have seri- 
ous results, so take time to sterilize the wounds. 

We are very doubtful if anyone can always keep smil- 
ing when the numerous emergencies for household repairs 
occur, as they do even in well-regulated homes, but it will 
help a great deal if you are a fair carpentress and have a 
tool chest — and keep it under lock and key. Hammers 
and screw-drivers and tack-lifters have an exasperating 
way of getting lost. 

Your Tool Chest 

The equipment of the tool chest should be a hammer, 
nails, and tacks of different sizes, a foot rule, a good-sized 
jackknife, a file, washers, a screw-driver, screw-eyes and 
screws, sandpaper, pliers, an oil can, and mending tape 
You will find your tool chest a labor and money saving 
friend, for many a plumber's visit can be delayed by a 
washer placed on a leaky pipe or the pliers tightening a 
faucet. 

Door and dresser knobs may need tightening, a refrac- 
tory cap on a tube of tooth paste may need loosening, car- 
pet or linoleum an extra tack, or a wicker chair that has 
started to unroll may require a bit of adhesive tape to hold 
it in check, and you will find there are many times you 
will need to make a friendly call on your tool chest. 

Your vacuum cleaner, sewing machine, and washer will 
all do better work if they are oiled frequently. Keep a 
small bottle of arnica and a sheet of court plaster in your 
chest, for the thumb you may hit instead of the nail. 



142 



"The Household Budget — 

Annual income, 
Annual expenditure, 

Result, 

Annual income. 
Annual expenditure, 

Result, 



Twenty pounds 
Nineteen nineteen six 

Happiness 

Twenty pounds 
Twenty ought and six 

Misery" 





CHAPTER XII 

The Household Budget 

NSTEAD OF resenting the prosaic business of consid- 
ering your income and expenses, in these rosy post- 
nuptial days, count yourself fortunate that you 
and your husband are going to talk them over together. 
Mrs. John A. Logan tells us that "the highest possible 
compliment and best assurance of his love which a man 
can give his wife is to talk over, when they are alone, his 
plans and ambitions in life, which is far more to be desired 
than public demonstrations and expressions of affection." 
Maybe you exchanged confidences before that little 
platinum or gold circle was slipped over the third finger 
of your left hand. Well, that was not too soon. Your hus- 
band may go to his work or his business now and you may 

145 



The Hope Chest 

spend your time managing, marketing, shopping, and at- 
tending the normal duties of housewifery. You may feel 
that you have no part or lot in your husband's business ex- 
cept the profits, but really you have gone into business — 
a co-partnership. As one of the partners you have a right 
to know the resources of the firm. Your expenditures de- 
pend upon it. 

The Value of Estimates 

Count yourself in the favored and fortunate class if 
you and your husband sit down regularly to estimate what 
you have and what you will spend. Your income will have 
to decide the amount apportioned to each need. Again and 
again we have been assured that on a moderate income not 
more than one-fourth should be spent for rent. It is ob- 
vious that a large house means more carpets and curtains, 
more coal for heating and more help for cleaning, so you 
must reckon with these items when considering the rent- 
ing of a large house. The rent allowance we are making in 
the budget is for rent as we usually consider it, or the taxes, 
repairs, and insurance on your own home, if you are fortu- 
nate enough to own one. 

A Sample Budget 

Let us suppose you have an income of two thousand 
dollars a year. For convenience to you we are suggesting 
the following figures on the basis of one hundred and sixty 
dollars a month. Some months the suggested amounts will 
be more than sufficient for the needs, but you can be sure 
that other months will call for the saved surplus. 

146 



The Household Budget 

Rent or upkeep of your own house $ 40.00 

Church and charity (on Bible basis of one-tenth of income) 16.00 

Food 42.00 

Doctor and dentist 5.00 

Clothing 25.00 

Amusements 5.00 

Vacation 5.00 

Building and loan lO.oo 

Insurance 3.00 

Household upkeep (fuel, service, trolley, etc.) g.OO 

Total per month $160.00 

Twelve times one hundred and sixty dollars makes 
nineteen hundred and twenty dollars and subtracting this 
from two thousand dollars — the salary on which these 
calculations are made — leaves a balance of eighty dollars. 
Certainly some of this fund you will want to use for books 
and magazines, for which we have made no other provi- 
sion. You may need it to help out some fund that accord- 
ing to your figuring is not sufficient, or for some emer- 
gency that may arise, or possibly for some coveted article 
for your home. 

You see we have not included house furnishing in this 
budget, but we have planned for the saving some present 
earnings for a rainy day, and for storing away something 
for the setting sun time of life, so that you will not be des- 
titute should all other inheritances fail you. 

Your Savings 

If possible, begin with life insurance and building and 
loan the first year of your married life. It is never a mis- 

147 



The Hope Chest 



take to think of the coming years and provide for them. 
Just now, when your husband is young, life insurance will 
cost much less than later on. Take out straight life, if your 
means are limited; but twenty-year endowment will give 
you the same protection, and at the expiration of twenty 
years you will have a neat little sum coming to you. 

Building and Loan Savings 

You will find it much easier to save if you do it sys- 
tematically. In the article, the budget, you notice we 
have suggested the laying aside each month of ten dollars 
for building and loan. This amount can vary according to 
your income. Make it as large as you can comfortably 
carry. Select a good company. The states' laws are rigid 
now in protecting the people from fake building and loan 
associations, so you may feel quite safe. 

You may be expecting an inheritance and think you 
will not need to save, but frugal habits, acquired now, will 
help you in taking care of larger amounts later on. 

Economy Possibilities 

This is not a cheerful subject. Maybe you are fortu- 
nate enough to not need to talk about it, but there are many 
who do. War times demanded many economies and we 
made them. If the salary of your husband, or the debt on 
a newly bought home of your own, calls for economy, you 
can be just as brave and just as loyal to the call of love as to 
the call of patriotism. 

There is a tendency everywhere toward simplicity in 
the furnishings of a home, which is decidedly wise. Dress 

148 



The Household Budget 



and entertaining have not followed in this judicious way, 
but these are both items within your control. A wardrobe 
which is so elaborate as to include many clothes held over 
from season to season is not wisely or well chosen. A few 
garments worn the first season, which is always their best 
season, are always more satisfactory. 

What Makes a Feast? 

You want your home to radiate refined hospitality, but 
that does not mean that a dinner to friends must be a feast. 
Nutritious food, dainty service, and a merry company are 
a trio that make any meal a banquet. Don't let haunting 
memories of lobster salad and nesselrode pudding, that 
come floating over you when you are serving a simple meal, 
win you from your frugal way. Begin your entertaining 
with the acknowledgment to yourself that the joy of any 
company is largely dependent on a hostess pleasant-spoken 
and fresh-looking and that you will be that kind of a hos- 
tess, even if there are a few less viands on the table. 

Any entertaining that leaves an aftermath of debts and 
regrets is sheer dissipation. Sometimes what we call the 
high cost of entertaining is really the cost of entertaining 
high. 

Own Your Own Home 

Not every young couple can set up housekeeping in a 
home of their own. But every bride and groom can start 
out with the definite determination of having such a home. 
There is joy in planning for it. You will not find economy 
irksome if you feel that each hundred dollars saved brings 
the home of your own nearer realization. 

149 



The Hope Chest 



I 



Study the home-making magazines. Start a scrap-book 
on house-building. Investigate attractive suburban propo- 
sitions. Then, when your building fund is big enough, you 
can consult a reliable contractor. 

Paying rent is poor business. With surprisingly little 
capital you can build a home — and gradually pay off the 
mortgage, instead of enriching a landlord. 



150 



"Teacher, tender comrade, wife, 
A feilow-farer true through life, 
Heart-whole and soul-free'^ 





CHAPTER XIII 

Keep Pace with Your Husband 

[OUR HONEYMOON trip is over, and you are In your 
own home with your husband. He has gone back 
to his business, where life for him has not altered 
its ways. But you? You are in your dream home, and 
whether it is a bungalow with a garden, or a fifth-floor 
flat, or an ancestral mansion, it's yours. 

Begin now to audit your character and see if you are 
going to have that house as your mistress, or if you are go- 
ing to put into your home the same thought and ambition 
and management that a progressive business man puts into 
his business. Face this fact — that your home, its beauty, 
its comfort, its rest, its inviting call to friends, and its hold- 
ing power for your husband, is largely in your hands. You 



153 



The Hope Chest 



are the mistress of a home-making business. Regard the 
petty annoyances that assail a home-maker with indiffer- 
ence, and keep your poise in your household battle. 

Your Hours Alone 

Isn't it quiet when you are all alone? Perhaps you 
came from a home of luxury where you were surrounded 
by brothers and sisters, whom you sometimes adored and 
sometimes found vexing, or maybe you had been living 
your daily life in the bristling business world, or you may 
have been spending these last years in a delightsome dor- 
mitory of a college. 

Now your husband must be at business and you must 
attend to your housekeeping business, too, and the days 
are long. Perhaps they are longer than they used to be, 
because you have to cultivate the early bird habit so you 
can eat breakfast together. Now these hours alone are 
going to be your defeat or victory hours — just as you 
make them. You are going to steal an hour or so for read- 
ing and music, we know, but all these eight or ten hours 
alone can be spent growing a fine, happy, healthful, help- 
ful life. 

Smile Down Your Troubles 

This is a great time to gain self-poise. Maybe the fire 
wouldn't burn, and you ran out of salt ; perhaps the clothes 
line broke with all your dazzling white clothes on it, and 
the milk soured, and you hammered your finger instead of 
the nail, and the curtains shrunk when they were washed. 
There are lots more household tragedies. But you? Did 

154 



Keep Pace with Your Husband 

you go about the house at these woeful times with shining 
eyes, and thrown-back shoulders, and smile-puckered lips, 
and countenance serene, and springing steps, and radiant, 
unconquerable optimism about you? If you did — and we 
are sure you did — you are going the right way to keep 
pace with your husband. 

True Comradeship 

There can be a fine kind of comradeship between mar- 
ried folk. If you can learn to be an understanding friend 
to your husband, you will never be a woman with a hungry 
heart. You may not need them, but these four suggestions 
will help you to it. 

I. Be Interested in His Business or Profession — His business success is 

yours, but if he has been struggling to reach a certain goal it ought 
to mean more to you than simply extra dollars. 

II. Like His Friends — They might not have been your choosing, if you 

had been making the selections, but you can at least like 'em as 
much as you can. 

III. Be Sympathetic — If his world is ever wrapped in shadows through 
failure or bereavement, be generous with sympathy. 

IV. Be Interested in His Sports — If you are not a golf enthusiast it may 
require some mental effort to know just when to applaud your 
husband's success, if his hobby is golf, or when to cheer at the 
baseball games American men sit in blistering sun to see; never- 
theless, if you are mentally able to grasp it, rejoice with him when 
he wins, pity him when he loses, and show that his pleasure is 
yours. Tennis and rowing and whatever possible share in playing 
with him. One of the saddest moments in life is when we awake 
to the fact that the chance to play has slipped away forever. 



The Hope Chest 



Efficiency experts on "Holding Husbands" will tell 
you that these are four good guide posts on the road to 
success. 

Friends — Clubs — Church 

The wedding "for better or worse" you may find "for 
worse" if you give up all your former interest in friends 
and clubs and church for your husband. Combine the two. 
Many a bride, after her wedding day, drops her girl 
friends, resigns from her social clubs, stays at home on 
Sundays, only to find in a few years that the world goes 
merrily on without her, that she has lost her vivacity and 
interest in all things but household duties. 

If you could see now what ruin, socially and mentally, 
ten years of this isolation at home will work, you will never 
need warning against it. It is possible to have a dustless 
house but lose husband and friends. "Homekeeping hearts 
are happiest" truly, but that means to keep the love of 
those who dwell there as well as to be always found there. 
Some time must be taken for enrichment from the outside 
world, or the homekeeping wife will find herself growing 
old and colorless and the friends and interest in life slip- 
ping away from her. 

The Value of Books 

Do not let your reading degenerate to the daily news- 
paper alone. Discussing the latest murder or the best bar- 
gain sale makes poor intellectual food with which to ac- 
company each meal. A home without books and good 
magazines misses much. If your husband is not fond of 

156 



Keep Pace with Your Husband 

good reading, you have a great opportunity to now and 
then suggest to him to read a magazine article along some 
line in which he is interested. It may be the awakening of 
his interest in good reading. If he is interested in good 
reading and you are not, begin at once to keep up with him. 
Your church attendance! Here your allegiance is 
higher and your vows to loyalty more binding than even 
the ones you made at the marriage altar. Stick to your 
church. 

Keep Up Your Music 

You should need no persuasion to keep up your music 
after your marriage. It is not enough to have been a girl 
who delighted her friends with her music, when you can be 
an equally attractive wife who continues to do so. Annex 
all your maiden charms and add them together to make 
yourself a charming wife and hostess. The wife who goes 
back with a tender reminiscent smile to girlhood days, 
when she used to play, is passe. Today's woman strikes a 
different note. 

Why should the ceremony with happiness woven in it 
make a silent home, or a canned music home, when former- 
ly your song or piano or violin could achieve pleasure at 
your will? Keep up your music. 

The Joy of Song 

"Just because you have no world-conquering voice, no 
genius for the violin or piano, is no reason that you should 
not continue to develop what you have. There is something 
about singing even an humble little song in an humble little 

157 



The Hope Chest 



voice that seems to renew the very life within us." Again, 
keep up your music. 

The Stay-at-home Dress 

What feminine wiles and ways you have, you must 
prepare to use them by your dress in keeping up with your 
husband. 

There is no man so indifferent to figure and form, and 
color and line, that he will not know the difference be- 
tween a neatly dressed and coififured wife and one in soiled 
clothing and kid curlers. 

Most brides love pretty clothes, when dressing for 
street, or church or social affair, but of equal importance 
is your at-home attire — not the at-home dress for state 
occasions, when the people you know may come in to see 
you and go out to forget you, but the every day at-home 
dress. 

Be Smart at Breakfast 

What do you eat your breakfast in? The bride of 
earlier days might have worn discarded finery in her 
kitchen, but the practical bride of today goes to her work, 
if work she has to do, caparisoned in one of the sensible 
and smart wash dresses that is obviously appropriate to 
the occasion. The shops have taken good care that this 
want is well supplied by attractive ready-made garments 
of this kind. No one need ever wear that cheerless, checked 
gingham apron of our grandmother's day, which was al- 
most a badge of servitude, when there are made today 
aprons just as useful and certainly more smart. With a 

158 



Keep Pace with Your Husband 

little cap to match you may be smartly and consistently 
garbed. 

Clean and dainty collar and cuff sets will transform a 
worn dress, and there is never any excuse for dowdiness. 
A husband will not be as likely to care for Parisian labels 
in clothes as for daintiness and cleanliness. For the hus- 
band whose wife says, "My fortune's made," meaning her 
marriage, and takes this as a liberty to neglect her personal 
appearance, we have the deepest sympathy. 

Keep That Feminine Charm 
Here's a friendly suggestion. In fifty-seven varieties of 
language we would like to say: Keep your elusive femi- 
nine charm. It is evanescent enough to vanish at a com- 
mon suggestion, but durable enough to stand a lifetime 
test when carefully cultivated. Age need not wither it nor 
custom change it. Daintiness in words and ways will foster 
it, and whimsical wiles will not ruin it. Cheap and tawdry 
words will bury it, and there can be no resurrection. Fore- 
go every temptation to destroy your charm. 

There is more on this page between the lines than we 
have written, but we are sure your feminine intuition will 
make it plain. 

"However few of the other good things of life are thy 
lot, the best of all things, which is innocence, is always 
within thy power." 

Labor-Saving Devices 
There are few ways to save money and many ways to 
spend it, but when you spend it for some of the labor-sav- 

159 



The Hope Chest 



ing devices on the market it will be well spent. Your hus- 
band's office is modernly equipped, if he has an office, or 
if he is a farmer his crops are sown and reaped with the 
latest machinery. A modernly equipped house, with an 
efficient mistress managing it, will run more smoothly 
than a house without the equipment and with inefficient 
help poorly managed. 

Labor-Saving Devices 

Visit, if possible, the house-furnishing section of a big 
city department store where you will find labor-saving de- 
vices of all sorts, designed to make housework lighter. So 
bewildering will be these various helps offered that you 
will almost rejoice that you have a house to supply, but if 
you are wise you will select only those that are useful. 

Equip your house electrically, if possible. You need 
not live in a big city to do this, as most of the towns have 
their electric plant. Washing, ironing, cleaning, sweeping, 
cooking, and even heating can be cleanly and quickly done 
by electricity. If you are doing your own work, consider 
which would mean more to your husband — let us say ten 
dollars more in his purse each month, or some music in 
the evening which you have had time to practice during 
the day, or a wife bright and smiling to go out with socially 
for the evening, instead of one nervous and fretful over the 
day's work? 

Lighten the Daily Tasks 

Marriage is not for a day and the constant strain of toil 
will tell, so if you must do your work, do it with as much 

1 60 



Keep Pace with Your Husband 

ease as possible, and in the future you may find your hus- 
band talking of you as the department store advertisers 
say of their goods, "Not easily matched in value." 

Study Your Job 

But if you have all the labor-saving devices obtainable, 
much will still depend on how you use them. To combat 
the elements of housework happily and healthfully is to 
lessen it by half. You can go about your work with a light 
step, you can swing a broom as skillfully as a man does his 
golf club, you can sit up straight at a sewing machine and 
not cultivate round shoulders by bending over, you can 
handle your dust mop as gracefully as you would a tennis 
racket, you can smile as you work and thereby set your 
face pleasantly for the coming years, and you can use sys- 
tem in your work which will always lessen the mental 
strain. Let your spark of vanity help in carrying out these 
last suggestions. 

When the Day Is Done 

If anybody has a right to be happy, it is a bride and her 
husband. When he closes his desk, or leaves the shop, he 
expects to come home to the one port where adverse winds 
do not blow. For the sake of keeping this vision of home 
bright and shining, meet him this way yourself. You will 
be gowned, of course, according to your means, sumptu- 
ously, if your purse and preference dictates it, and simply, 
if the dinner is prepared by yourself. 

To a man, no meal will be made appetizing by your 
rehearsal of the disappointment of tradespeople, or the 

i6i 



The Hope Chest 



exasperation of servants, or the failure of recipes. They 
may have all happened, but vv^hy tell him? There are 
many better and bigger and cheerier things to talk about. 

Before your wedding day did you save up all the an- 
noyances of your home to recount to him on his visits? 
There might never have been a wedding day if you had. 
"For better or for worse" never meant for smiles or for 
grouches, just as we may choose to give. And do avoid 
patient sighs! For a happy home there is a safe path be- 
tween the rampantly frivolous and the woefully serious. 
A little bit of fun is a good antidote for the turmoil of the 
day. 

What about yourself? Well, this book is for the bride. 
Maybe someone is writing a bigger and better one for the 
groom. 



162 



J^TERNAL love, we thank thee that thou hast 
t/ led us into loves way — this joyous, rose 
strewn, sunlit way. Make us worthy to tread it. 

Our hearts are full of springtime; our souls 
are stirred with Joy at song of bird, and beauty of 
flower, and nature s subtle whisperings. May this 
kinship with joy remain with us. 

If, as we pass along, the clamor of earth 
outside our walls may seem endless, within our 
home may rest and contentment keep us young 
and our hearts aright. 



Lest You Forget 

We Lea've These Pages for You to Fill, 
Whenever, Wherever, and 'with Whatever You Will- 
Make Here the Diary of Your Hope Chest 



Reminders for the Kitchen 



Things I Want to Buy 



On Making Home Happy 



Ideas on Entertainment 



Out-of-Doors Notes 



**This Utile hook Jed me in a very hungry place'' 



,l!f!?°^'900 







